Where the Heart Lies
by werks
Summary: S2-04: A love story about our two favorite grayhairs that recounts some significant events that shaped Henry and Betty Reagan's lives together from their arrival in Bay Ridge, to secrets kept over the loss of their firstborn son, Peter Christopher, to the birth of Francis Xavier, Mary's introduction to the family and finally at the end as they face Betty's illness and passing.
1. Chapter 1

Where the Heart Lies

 _A shorter (ish?) love story about our two favorite grayhairs that recounts through flashbacks some of the significant events that shaped Henry and Betty Reagan's lives together from their arrival in Bay Ridge, to the secrets kept over the loss of their firstborn son, Peter Christopher, to the birth of Francis Xavier, Mary's introduction to the family and finally at the end as they face Betty's illness and passing together. Warning: this one's a real tear-jerker at times!_

 _Originally slated to be a Snapshot II, it was necessary to let this one stand alone since it's grown to a 22-chapter full-length installment and serves as a bridge between "Resurgence" and its epilogue "I See Fire," before the start of whatever will come in Series III._

* * *

Chapter 1

"Pop! You awake yet?" Frank called up the steps of the Reagan family home on Harbor View Terrace in the Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn early one morning in mid-June as he leaned down and added his briefcase to the small grouping of luggage assembled next to the front door. "My detail will be here in a couple of minutes to take me to the airport. Are you sure you have everything you need for the next few days? I just noticed your pillbox on the counter in the kitchen looks like it needs to be refilled. Did you call in all your prescriptions? You do know that I won't be back from the Commissioner's IACP conference in Seattle until late Saturday night, right?"

"Yes, on all counts, Mrs. Worrywart," Henry gruffed without even trying to conceal a frown as he slowly made his way down the steps from his room and past his son without further acknowledgment while dressed in his pajamas, robe, and slippers with hair still rumpled from sleep. "And I'm sure you've put the kids on the usual schedule to come check on me," he noted with irritation reminiscent of a teenager looking forward to the freedom of a weekend home alone only to have that squashed by overbearing parents. "For your information, I went to the pharmacy yesterday to pick up the order, but it wasn't filled yet because they were still waiting for a delivery. Jamie said he would stop by tonight on his way home from 1PP and get it since he was going there for the baby's drops anyway, and I'm headed over to the house after breakfast to help Eddie with my great-grandson and Kaylin while he and Eva are both at work. I've got enough pills for today," he asserted. "I might be old, but I can still get around and take care of myself!"

"Alright, I'm sorry I brought it up," Frank conceded to the grumpy older man with a nod and a relieved sigh as he acknowledged the fact that the problem had apparently already been addressed. Honestly, though he was more than a little jealous that NYPD business required him to be away for the rest of the week while his father was free to provide company for his daughter-in-law and youngest grandchildren since that baby boy and little girl were like a tonic for everyone's souls. "It's just that your cardiologist put you on that new medication last month and said it's important not to miss a dose once your body was used to it."

"And I won't," Henry insisted as he prided himself on still being sharp and independent even at his advancing age. "Since when have you known me to forget something like that? Do you want to worry? How about the weather on the left coast? You'll be lucky if your flight gets in on time from what I hear. Better pack your Wellies," he advised over his shoulder as he headed for the coffee maker. "Gonna pour cats and dogs every day out there this week."

"Well, lucky for me the conference is in the hotel, and I wasn't planning on any sightseeing," Frank rebuffed as he followed Henry back into the kitchen while waiting for his escort to arrive. The older they both got, the less he looked forward to these extended trips away from the city as the reality of leaving an aging parent alone in the sprawling household was never far from his mind. He could usually count on the rest of the family to pitch in and check on their grandfather during his absence which was made easier now with his youngest son living just a few blocks away in the old homestead. This time though Linda and Danny were preoccupied preparing for the imminent birth of the Marcus Beale baby which they were planning to adopt, and Erin was wholly embroiled in the investigation of an evidence tampering case with deep ties to her office. That left only a virtually housebound Eddie with a month-old baby Joseph home from the NICU ward for only for a few weeks now and Jamie who had just started back to work full-time in his new position as an FBI liaison for the NYPD legal department two days previously. Frank knew his youngest son was still coming up to speed with his recovery after the events of the past six months and injuries sustained after being struck by a car in Washington DC plus the later fall suffered at the bridge upstate when the situation with Mason Malevsky had come to a head, but he was counting on the forceful, magnetic pull of that new baby boy and a spirited three-year-old girl just up the street to assure himself of the fact that Henry would not be alone for any length of time while he was away. Still, for whatever reason, there was a heavier-than-normal feeling nagging at his heart this morning, and for a brief second, he seriously considered canceling the long-planned trip altogether.

"Francis, don't look now, but the Batmobile is already here," Henry noted with a glance through the living room window at the street as a familiar black SUV pulled up to the curb while he made his way to the front door to retrieve the morning paper. "You better get a move on it if you're still going," he added after noting his son's sudden reticence. "I'll be fine."

"Okay, Pop, I'll call this afternoon when we land," Frank finally gave in although he was still worried that his father looked a little more tired than normal that morning. "Love you. Promise to take care of everyone else for me," he added with an uncharacteristic lingering, affectionate hug for the older man before making his way out of the door and down the steps to the waiting vehicle with his bags already being retrieved by an ever-efficient member of the detail.

"Eh, wonder what's gotten into him, and where have I heard that before?" Henry pondered with a puzzled, raised eyebrow and half-wave as he watched them depart down the street before turning around to totter off on his morning mission which would include a short walk up to the familiar house on Driftwood Way where he and his beloved late wife had been at the start of their lives together here in this neighborhood over sixty years before.

###

 _"Oh, for the love of all things under the stars of Heaven and earth, Henry, you can't be serious. It's certainly beautiful as you said, but much too pretentious for our needs now," Betty Reagan tutted softly in her once usual vim when he pulled their Studebaker up in the driveway of a home for sale in the heavily Irish populated Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn late one Sunday morning after church services were over. Although he expected precisely that response given the stately residential location which appeared well out of the reach of a newly promoted NYPD third-grade detective's salary, he was heartened to hear just a hint of that old lilt in her voice after the crushing silence that often permeated between them now since the loss of their beloved eighteen-month-old first-born son, Peter Christopher, soon after the little boy had been diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia. An active and precocious child, he had gone from seeming normal and healthy to death's doorstep almost overnight as his small body was wracked with a sudden systemic infection. There had hardly been time to process what was happening and say goodbye before the greatest light the couple had ever known to that point was forever extinguished from their lives._

 _"Sweetheart, we talked about this," Henry encouraged gently as he reached over and took her hand. "A place like this is more than a house… it's an investment for our future. Your father left us a nest egg from his business when he passed, and instead of keeping it all in the bank for a rainy day, we could start over here where no one knows or constantly reminds us about what happened. We need that, Bet. I could request a transfer to the 1-9. There's room for me to move up the ranks in the department there and St. Victor's is close by if you wanted to go back to nursing. That nice Irish Catholic church we went to this morning is just a few blocks away. With your parents gone and now Peter... there's too many memories and ghosts left for us in Woodlawn Heights. It's time we leave the Bronx."_

 _"I knew you had something on yer mind when you suggested this little drive, and I do not wish to move on or forget, Henry Reagan! Peter Christopher is not a ghost! He is my forever angel, and he rests with my mháthair and athair in the cemetery in Woodlawn!" Betty murmured with a determined emphasis on that place as her eyes filled while they took in the detailed architecture of the brick building before her. So many windows up there on that second floor could only mean multiple bedrooms—spaces she knew her husband desperately wanted to fill with more children someday, but for now, her heart was too broken to consider anything but the emptiness that was consuming it._

 _"I cannot leave him behind."_

 _"He's not there, Betty… not really, but he'll always be here with us in our hearts," Henry tried to reason as he brought her wedding ring up to kiss it. The sight of his wife taking a daily trek to visit their son's grave for months on end now no matter the weather had been gnawing at his very soul, and he knew if he didn't do something drastic soon to break that cycle she would be lost to him forever too. "He'll stay close no matter where we go, but Peter would want more for his mother than sadness and crying over a headstone… he would want to be remembered with joy and happiness in your heart because that's what he brought us even if it was only meant to be for a short time. Maybe someday we can feel that again in a place like this," he consoled with a sad half smile. "There could be others and grandchildren after them. C'mon, what do you say, my love? Let's knock on that door and see if anyone's here to show it to us. I promise if it doesn't feel like somewhere we could call home forever we'll move on."_

###

"Pop! You're here early today!" Eddie's welcoming greeting broke through Henry's memories as he stood again on the front porch of the house he had come to share with Betty all those years ago. Once inside that day she had quickly surrendered to its warm charms and the notion that this was indeed the place they were meant to share the rest of their lives together. A small look of peace had even played over her face after running her hand lovingly on the oak banister that still stood in the same place, now cherished by a third and fourth generation of their blood. Recalling that time, he could not help but smile at the familiar look of his granddaughter-in-law, even in her current obviously sleep-deprived, baby-stained, disheveled state, since her spunk so reminded him of a time long ago and a beloved wife who had shaken off the tragedy of the past and come to share the same spirit once more as they grew their family's roots in this very spot just as he'd hoped.

"Oh, c'mon in... you don't have to knock when I know you'll be walking over. Technically, you still own the joint," Eddie kidded as she opened the door wide and pushed back her uncombed hair while reminding him of the fact that he still held the mortgage for them as he had gifted the down payment to Jamie and his wife in an effort to keep the property in the family and provide a suitable home for Kaylin when the short-term new owners, the Peterson's, had passed. After Betty and Mary's deaths, Frank had somehow convinced his father to sell the house and move in with him a few blocks over on Harbor View when hip replacement surgery loomed. Now, it was back under the family name again though, and Henry couldn't have been more pleased than to see another one of those rooms upstairs filled when the newest Reagan, little Joseph Daniel, was welcomed home from the hospital a few weeks ago after an earlier than expected arrival and a bit of a surprise reveal during his birth. Unfortunately, that necessitated a doting Nagyanya's complete revamping of the nursery theme from the bright pink and pastel colors that had once adorned the walls in anticipation of another little girl instead.

"Sorry for the mess… I know it looks like a hurricane swept through, but Jamie and Mom both overslept and were running late for work, and then Kaylin was trying her best to help me fold the mountain of laundry this little spit up meister creates every day. Let me at least clear a spot for you to sit," she added while grabbing the half-filled basket from the coffee table.

"And where are my gg's?" Henry asked after a longer than usual pause to catch his breath following the walk over before trailing her inside while he looked eagerly around for his great-grandchildren. Suddenly though he found himself feeling disoriented as the room began to swim slightly in his vision and he was forced to lean heavily on that oak banister in the foyer as Frank's earlier warning about missing his medication came back into play while Eddie's back was turned, and she paused to pick up and fold a few swaddling blankets off the chair. One of those new pills had slipped from his hand and accidentally washed down the drain of the sink while he was filling a glass of water to take them with that morning, and without a refill handy he had decided to ignore that fact in his quest to come up here as early as possible. Surely one dose was nothing to worry over no matter what the doctor had warned about, he assured himself, and there was no reason to make a fuss now or call for a car to take him to the pharmacy when Jamie had already offered to do that later in the afternoon.

"Munchie's in the bassinet over here napping like a champ now of course since he refuses to stay quiet more than twenty minutes a time at night unless he's latched onto me… don't tell anyone, but I think Jamie's actually jealous of him for that. Kaylin's upstairs finally getting dressed," Eddie answered sleepily with a big yawn as she ran the tip of her tongue over gritty teeth before covering her mouth with an embarrassed grimace trying without success to recall the last time they might have been brushed as she failed to notice Henry's state at first while preoccupied with her own. "If you could watch them while I take a shower to feel like a human being again I swear I'll bow down and kiss your feet. I thought maybe we could walk to the park after he wakes up and nurses again since it's such a nice day. A little sun and fresh air would be good for us all, don't you think?... Pop?" she asked and then looked around expectantly when there was no reply forthcoming.

"POP!" she cried while dropping the blankets from her hand as the basket tumbled to the ground and everything else was forgotten before she ran over after noticing Henry sliding slowly down to sit heavily on the first step while the color was rapidly draining out of his face. "Oh no! What's wrong?!"

"Dizzy… can't stand… up… anymore," he managed to stutter out weakly while continuing a slow collapse backward as Eddie rushed to cushion his head as he fell sluggishly against the railing.

"POP POP! YOU 'ERE TO SEE ME!" Kaylin squealed happily at first from the top of the steps while half-dressed in just a plain white nightshirt and her cherished duckie jammies bottoms before catching on to the seriousness of the situation as the commotion downstairs had drawn her out of her room.

"Mommy! What wrong with 'im?!"

"I'm not sure, sweetie… don't get upset though; he's just not feeling well right now," Eddie answered more calmly than at first although she was finding it hard to take her own advice even as her first responder training kicked in on autopilot, and she recognized the greyish blue pallor of a cardiac event—fully aware that Henry had suffered a previous heart attack several years before at Thanksgiving. She quickly felt for a pulse which seemed fast and weak all at the same time while the baby began to stir at the shouting voices and joined in with a pitiful wail of his own from the bassinet next to the couch. "Kaylin, go back upstairs to the bedside table and get Mommy's phone for me... CALL DADDY NOW!" she ordered with her own heart racing before reaching over to the wall and hitting the medical emergency button on the alarm system which fast-tracked an immediate ambulance response and had come in handy already on more than one occasion since it was installed.

"Oh God! This isn't happening, not now! Hang on, Pop! Please!" she begged him softly as her tears were spilling over and falling on his shirt. "We all love you and still need you so much! Please, you just have to stay with us! I'm gonna have a bus for you here in no time!"

"I'm fine, sweetheart, now don't fuss. Take care of everyone else for me," Henry tried to assure in a familiar fashion even as he was lying back against the steps with his eyes closed and his mind drifting back to all those years ago when he had come home only to find his beloved Betty collapsed in this very same spot.

* * *

 _So many things seem to happen at the bottom of that staircase, don't they? Poor Henry. Next, Jamie receives word that his grandfather has taken suddenly ill, and he's forced to make some decisions about notifying the rest of the family before racing to join his frightened wife and children at the hospital._


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

 _"Betty! Are you there, sweetheart?... I'm home," Henry called out as he opened the front door halfway before putting down several carefully packed grocery bags from the farmer's market and pausing to retrieve and scan the mail from the box on the stoop. It still felt odd to say that in the middle of the work week while daylight was spilling through the windows considering for the last however many years almost without fail he would have still been sequestered on the fourteenth floor at 1PP until well after dark, dealing with the near-constant business of being the city's top cop. Rising through the ranks to the level of Police Commissioner had its perks but spending leisure time at home during the day with his wife and now bustling extended family was definitely not one of them. Forced retirement had taken that problem off the table recently though after an ill-timed kerfuffle over bragging rights for dropping crime stats left him out of a job a few months before and no longer serving at the pleasure of the current mayor._

 _"I tried calling earlier, but you didn't answer," he added and looked through the doorway, expecting her to be in the kitchen starting supper like clockwork as he paged through a stack of meaningless advertisements._

 _"I'm sorry it took so long at the store, but I stopped by Pearson's to pick up the roast for Sunday and then dropped it off with Mary. I know you said not to worry, but she's happy to make the meal this week since you've been feeling under the weather the last few days. We got to talking a bit about Joseph. She says he's got a new girl named Angela that he's going to bring around..." Henry trailed off when there still was no response as the mere mention of one of her grandsons dating someone new would usually have Betty puffing away in her indomitable Irish ire about the virtues of young women these days and how he would need to lecture Joe about being a gentleman considering the situation that had preceded them with Daniel and Linda on her first visit to this house for Sunday dinner when the two had been caught being less than chaste in the backseat of the very Studebaker that he was retrieving the groceries from. Still, that had worked out in the end as the couple was now married with a little boy of their own, John Patrick, or Jack as their first great-grandson was affectionately called, who was just starting to crawl even though his father was no longer around to witness it. The shock of the attacks of 9/11 had eaten at Danny's conscience over the past year. In a surprising move, he had taken leave from the NYPD and recently enlisted in the Marines where he was currently finishing boot camp with an eye to shipping out to the Middle East any day now from his training post at Parris Island, South Carolina. The situation saddened Henry greatly as he recalled his own service and time away from home in Korea. This was no time to dwell on that though as he puzzled over where his wife might be since she still had not answered._

 _"Betty?" he tried again before stepping through the door, the groceries and everything else now forgotten on the stoop as his stunned eyes lit on her lying motionless at the bottom of the stairs, her head resting against that cherished oak banister she had polished religiously every week for the past forty plus years of their married lives together._

 _"BETTY!"_

###

"Jamison, how are things going today?" DCLM Charles "Chuck" Miller asked from the doorway as he stopped to check in with the newest employee in the legal department at 1PP. "Settling in okay?"

"Yes, sir," Jamie smiled as he closed the folder on his desk while initially ignoring the buzz of the phone in his pocket given the fact he was in the presence of his new boss, having decided to stay in the NYPD and take on this post as an Assistant Director of Special Investigations in the Criminal Section when the original offer for a similar assignment with the FBI in Washington had been rescinded. True to his word, while his initial placement was as a subordinate, Deputy Commissioner Miller had provided a pathway to put Jamie's career on the fast track, and he was positioned to become the primary liaison with the federal bureau in the department, slated to work almost exclusively with them to coordinate operations between the two agencies. In addition, he was also now responsible for conducting training for other units on criminal and constitutional law. It promised to make for a rather full schedule, and while his heart still belonged to patrolling the streets, this new appointment was shaping up to be an interesting blend of his legal and policing skills with more opportunities for fieldwork coordinating joint operations than the stuffy courtroom requirements he had initially shied away from as corporate counsel. Added to that was the search and seizure course he was scheduled to begin teaching at the academy in the fall which gave him the desired opportunity to work with the young recruits again as well as an excuse to pop in and see how his good friend Quincy was faring in his new temporary role as an assistant tactical shooting instructor there.

"Just getting my feet wet with some of these warrant requests for next week's op in the East Village," he explained. "We should be all set to go by Tuesday at the latest."

"Excellent," Miller nodded with a pleased smile and a satisfied chuff since having a smart, dedicated and trustworthy designee to troubleshoot the often complicated interactions between two of the largest law enforcement agencies in the country would surely solve a majority of the headaches in this area and enhance his own status among the other deputy chiefs in an ultimate bid for a move up the ladder to a more substantial office in the future, either here at 1PP when Frank finally turned in his papers or more ambitiously at City Hall with a run for the Mayor's seat. "Now more importantly, how's that new baby?" he added in easy small talk. "I swear your father's chest is so puffed out when he speaks about him in the elevator I have to step back two feet. He told me both children will be attending the daycare here in a few more weeks, so I expect we'll see them visiting soon? Eddie's handling the transition well?"

"She's doing fine," Jamie assured. "Joey keeps us on our toes, and she loves staying home with him and Kaylin, but she still has her heart set on earning a gold shield, so she'll be back at work as soon as the pediatrician clears him, and her maternity leave is over," he added as the phone buzzed audibly in his pocket once more. "Speak of the devil," he smiled apologetically after allowing himself a quick peek to see who it was since the conversation had turned casual and it was unusual to receive multiple calls in rapid succession from her without a text or voicemail left to explain. "I'm sorry, but that's twice so it must be important."

"Well, then I'll let you get that. My advice to you is never keep the real boss waiting," Miller chuckled agreeably as he ducked out of the doorway and made his way towards the front desk to confer with his secretary.

"Hey, honey," Jamie answered, expecting to hear Eddie vent about something, make a plea for takeout tonight or remind him not to forget that promised trip to the pharmacy on the way home before a frightened little familiar voice came over the line instead.

 _###_

 _"How was school today, honey?" Mary called out from the pantry as she heard the screen door open and his backpack being deposited on a chair in the kitchen like clockwork. No doubt her youngest and the last to leave the Reagan family nest on Harbor View would be looking for a snack to tide him over prior to holing up in his room to study as usual for a few hours before their routinely scheduled late dinner as the two waited for Frank to return from his heavy responsibilities as Chief of Detectives at 1PP._

 _"Good," came the expected agreeable, but abbreviated answer of a teenager. Now an easy-going Junior at the start of the fall term in high school, Jamie was ranked first in his class by a large margin and to Mary's great joy appeared well on his way towards a career in law with talk of application for early admission to Harvard for undergraduate studies in Government slated for late the next November, just over a year away. Still, no matter how hard she tried it had been impossible to shield him entirely from his blue-blooded heritage, and it always tended to bleed through whenever something reminded him of the family business._

 _"Hey, Ma… I thought I heard sirens up the way when I got off the bus. May I walk over to Grandma Betty's and see what's up?" he asked eagerly with innocent intent while flashing those charming hazel eyes and a wry smile at her as she rounded the corner and entered the kitchen. "Maybe it's Joe and his partner," he added since his middle brother's recent graduation from the academy and talk of his rookie adventures had only further stoked those fires she had sought desperately to snuff out._

 _"Jamison Henry Reagan, you know very well your brother is assigned to Sergeant Renzulli at the 12th now, and this is not in their area," she scolded with her hands on her hips. "You don't need to be nosey and wind up in the middle of some domestic situation that's none of your business. There are enough men from this family in harm's way every day now as it is," she added with a heavy sigh thinking of Danny's imminent departure for God only knew where in his quest to avenge that witnessed the deadly premeditated attack on their city. "Besides, doesn't someone have a very important history paper due tomorrow?" she reminded pointedly while walking over to the sink to wash her hands. "I made apple pie for dinner, but you can have a piece warm out of the oven early if you're hungry now," came an added level of distraction with one of his favorite treats as the phone began ringing. "Honey, can you get that for me?" she asked, never guessing the devastating news on the end of that line was about to change their family dynamic forever._

 _"Sure," Jamie sighed as he obediently did as she wished, still inwardly disappointed with the fact that he was not allowed to take part in any NYPD action, even if it was just as a spectator._

 _"Hello?" he answered as he picked up the line and was instantly concerned by the sound of sirens and commotion that could be heard in the background. "Grandpa, what's wrong?!" he cried as his frightened eyes looked up and met his mother's._

 _###_

"KAYLIN! WHAT'S WRONG?!" Jamie panicked and was instantly concerned by the sound of sirens and commotion that could be heard in the background as his little girl was clearly upset and crying for her daddy but not offering any other pertinent information at first. "Is it the baby?" he begged for an answer as his first fear was for the welfare of their premature newborn son before he jumped to his feet with a grimace as that sudden movement was still a bit too much to ask from his mending leg and his hand automatically slid down to his thigh while he leaned back on the desk.

"Honey, where's Mommy?"

"Pop Pop fell down and went to sleep," came the gut-wrenching reply at a preschool level of understanding instead and Jamie's own heart skipped several beats as he instantly flashed back on the call that had come from the very same house all those years ago to inform them of Grandma Betty's collapse. "She said to, but he won't 'ake up!"

"H-he what?! Kaylin, baby… where's Mommy? Is she there?" Jamie tried again even as he was grabbing his keys from the desk drawer and hurrying out of his office and down the hall, the residual pain in his leg now fully ignored. "Sweetie, please give her the phone so that I can talk to her," he added with little hope the obviously upset little girl would carry out the order. Pausing at the reception desk, he held this hand over the receiver and mouthed "Family emergency, it's Pop," to DCLM Miller who instantly waved to the secretary to summon his own detail.

"Take my car, lights, and sirens," Miller offered quickly as the long-time Reagan family friend fully understood from that look how serious the matter was, especially given that it was the Police Commissioner's own father. "What's happened? Where is he? What do you need?"

"I'm not sure. Kaylin told me he fell down at our house and didn't get up, but she won't say anything else now, and Eddie hasn't picked up the phone. It could be his hip or his heart… he's had trouble with both before. I hear a response there already though… if they need to transport him somewhere he'd be going to St. Vic's, so I guess I should head there," Jamie reasoned with a shaky voice as he tried to formulate a plan given the fact that his father was currently on a plane heading for Seattle so virtually unreachable, probably somewhere 15,000 feet high over the Great Lakes at that very moment.

"What else can I do for you?" Miller asked again as he sensed the younger man's indecision.

"I need to tell Dad somehow. Baker… um, I guess she didn't make the trip west with him," he finally settled on with the knowledge that he had passed his father's assistant seated at her desk that morning. "Can you check and let her know that something's going on? He's supposed to be inflight already unless there was a delay, but maybe she can figure out a way to get him back… if he… well, if he needs to," Jamie stuttered out while he considered the implications of the situation given Henry's age and history. "It's a long nonstop, so ask her not to say anything until they land so he doesn't think about and not be able to… I mean he should call me first when he can," he added feeling the responsibility on his shoulders to deliver such news directly if needed.

"Understood," Miller assured with a sympathetic frown and a comforting hand on Jamie's arm. "I'll take care of that myself. Let us know when you have news," he called after the departing shadow as Jamie turned and headed for the elevator just as his wife finally picked up the phone.

"JAMIE!" he heard her cry and knew instantly that his fears weren't unfounded by the broken tone of her voice.

"Eddie, what is it? What's happening?" he demanded while punching the ground floor button and cursing the fact that the doors were so sluggish to close.

"It's Pop… he's… I don't know! He just got here, and then I turned around to pick up a few things and all of a sudden, he was sitting down by the steps and saying he was dizzy, but then he passed out cold for a little while until the ambulance got here. I'm so scared! He doesn't look good!" she warned as he could hear Joey crying with added vigor in the background now as she had frantically stuffed some supplies in the diaper bag before slinging it over her shoulder and scooping him up abruptly out of the bassinet without her usual softness in the rush to get both her little ones out to the car and into their seats. "Jamie, I think it might be his heart again," she informed sadly in a whisper as her own broke to say that out loud while she was buckling the baby into the carrier by the couch first knowing how much Henry was loved within the family. "He's really pale. They gave him some oxygen and started an IV, and he sort of came around a little though and told everyone to get the eff away and leave him alone, but I'm not sure he knew what was going on because he was talking about taking care of your Grandma. He usually doesn't curse like that, especially in front of the kids. They're leaving now and taking him to…"

"St. Vic's, yeah. I'm on my way already," Jamie assured as the doors opened on the ground floor and he rushed towards the entrance. "His cardiologist is… um, Dr. Conklin, I think. Linda could… wait, I'm not sure if she's on duty today. Didn't she and Danny have a meeting with Marcus somewhere? I don't know, I'll figure it out when I get there," he added while flagging down the car and jumping in the front seat before the driver sped off, already informed of the destination and urgency of the matter.

"Okay, I'm headed over too," she stated while grabbing her purse and keys off the counter before leaning over to pick up Kaylin who had gone quiet in shock and was just standing silently now in bare feet and her duckie pajamas with tears streaming down her face. "Shhh, it's okay, sweetie… we're going to make sure Pop Pop's alright. Daddy's coming to be with us right now," Eddie tried to comfort while somehow managing to grab the little girl's shoes off the stoop and fit through the front door three wide loaded down like a packhorse. "I wanted to ride with him, Jamie, but the kids…"

"Right, but maybe you should stay at home. Joey's not really supposed to be out in public just yet… all those germs in the hospital. I can handle..."

"Is that _you_ telling _me_ what to do?" she shrilled a reply back instantly that cut off that line of thought as it was evident there would be no changing her mind especially given the close bond that she and Henry shared. "Jamie, he's my Grandpa too! He needs us now!"

"Okay, okay, Ed, please… please, we both need to calm down," he admitted while trying to reason and soothe her before she got in the car with his two children in this state and attempted to drive herself. "Honey, take a breath and ask one of the uniforms to bring you in. Tell them it's under the Commissioner's orders if you have to. I don't want you behind the wheel!" he insisted forcefully. "Promise!"

"Okay, I'll do that," she conceded that was for the best given the circumstances and waved at one of the officers from the 1-9 in the RMP still sitting at the front curb before another thought hit her. "How will you tell your Dad and the rest of the family that it's probably another…"

###

 _"It's a heart attack, Commissioner Reagan, and the damage appears to be severe. I'm so very sorry. We will do everything in our capabilities, but you should prepare yourself for the worst."_

* * *

 _Hopefully, everyone's following along there with the timeline as the flashbacks to Betty are in italic and mirror the events of the current day. Next, the family begins to arrive, and they'll await news as to what's going on with the Reagan patriarch before Jamie is forced to make a decision regarding care in his father's absence. Where's Erin and her infamous POA forms when they're needed now?_


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"Just where is everyone else today?" Jamie griped as he hung up the phone after leaving yet another message for Danny while continuing to stalk back and forth in front of the admissions desk at St. Victor's hospital with a growing limp now as he tired himself out before pausing once more with a knock at the window as the unamused woman behind the glass rolled her eyes and frowned back.

"Ma'am," he tried again with a tight smile when she finally conceded and opened it a crack as he was doing his best to quell a growing frustration level with this new, obstinate, unsympathetic, unimpressed nurse who followed the letter of the law and had thus far refused all requests for information regarding Henry's condition or status while he was still being evaluated somewhere behind a curtain in the busy emergency room.

"The rest of the Commissioner's family will be here shortly," he lied outright since he had been unable to reach his brother, Linda or Erin directly despite multiple attempts and so far, had only managed to alert Nicki who was on her way after leaving a shift at the Columbia University campus bookstore where she was working for the summer while taking a few elective classes. "Would it at least be possible to open up the private waiting room down the hall so I can move everyone in there for security purposes?" he asked through gritted teeth and flashed the gold badge at his belt once more in an attempt to get something out of her since right now his upset, and frankly unkempt-looking wife, daughter, and still-somewhat fragile baby boy were seated in the middle of a crowded waiting room surrounded by people coughing up God only knows what.

"I'll see if someone knows where the key is," she answered with no obvious intent to do that, followed by a dismissive "Next," and a wave to the person standing aside him as he was tempted to reach for his duty piece had it been available.

"Jamie," Eddie's steadying voice came from behind instead. "Honey, please sit down. You're not using your crutches like you're supposed to when you get tired, and you're gonna wind up taking a face plant in front of everyone here soon."

"Well, then at least maybe I'd be able to get back there and see what the hell is happening!" he huffed before finally obeying and slumping into the seat next to her while pulling Kaylin back onto his lap for a hug that the likewise stressed little girl reciprocated as she buried her face in his neck. "I don't like the thought of him being alone, Ed," he admitted sadly as she instantly reached over for his hand while he choked up on another memory. "Grandma Betty was alone," he revealed the reason behind the angst. "No one knows how long before he found her and by that time it was too late. So was Joe… it's just not right…" he trailed off. "We're supposed to be there for our family when something bad happens… just like everyone did for me."

"He's not alone, Jamie," Eddie assured as she teared up alongside him and leaned her head on his shoulder. "We're here, and he's gonna be okay. He got help right away. Thank God it happened in our house and not somewhere out on the street or when he was by himself this morning after your Dad left, right? He made it home."

"I guess, it's just that he never lets us down. With Dad not here, I don't want anything to…"

"Jamie Reagan, I thought I'd find you here!" a shrill call from the double doorway interrupted their thoughts, and both jumped to their feet once more as Addison Greene made her way towards them with a prominent baby bump of her own on full display beneath her scrubs. "Aw, there's your sweet little guy! He looks so good!" she cooed with a hand on her belly as she spotted the sleeping infant in the carrier next to them. "George and I just found out we're having a girl!" she beamed with a radiant smile as that momentous engagement trip to Red Rocks the previous December had indeed left more than a ring on her finger with an expectant bundle of joy now the size of a spaghetti squash due to arrive in the beginning of September. "He wanted to know, and I wanted a surprise, but then at the last visit I just went ahead and gave in and told them to tell us. Isn't that AWESOME? Little Joey can have a real girlfriend for play dates now!"

"That's great, Ad. Congratulations," Jamie acknowledged sincerely even as Eddie nearly spasmed aside of him twitching at the thought although honestly now their son's future dating life and the specter of a nightmare he kept having about a potential mating with Magenta Mahoy that this little announcement recounted was the last thing on their minds. "Did you see Pop back there?" he queried.

"Oh, right… that's how I knew you'd be out here, silly!" Addie remembered as pregnancy had done nothing if not amplify her usual bubbly nature. "Dr. Conklin was just getting to him when I got called down on a respiratory consult in the next bed for a five-year-old boy who had a seizure then and there and needed CPR. Plus, there's a lady across the way whose eyeball just popped right out of her head… imagine that!" she continued spouting off while Jamie's mind was spinning since there had been nothing definitive revealed about his grandfather's condition in that little font of information.

"ADDISON," Eddie stepped in finally to refocus her. "We're really worried about _Henry,"_ she emphasized.

"Oh, of course," Addie came down a notch apologetically and recognized she had been off on a tangent as was often her nature. "The doctor's still busy with that little boy, but he told me to tell you Henry's stable and they're going to move him up to the cardiac wing on the seventh floor for observation after he comes back from a head CT… You can wait at the end of the north hall up there, and he'll talk to you; it shouldn't be long. I'll call up to clear a private room so you can be comfortable and maybe get some rest?" she added with a raised eye and a nod towards Eddie's somewhat unnaturally unordered state complete with mismatched shoes that Jamie had deliberately not drawn attention to and an obvious large spot in the middle of her wrinkled tee at breast level courtesy of their beloved little spit up meister as he was now affectionately known. "I could even bring you a spare scrub top if you wanted to, um… freshen up."

"You could… wait, what?" Eddie puzzled at that turn in the conversation before she looked down and realized exactly how she had left the house and why it seemed like everyone was staring at her ever since she sat down next to a contrasting husband dressed in a sharp business suit. "Oh, God! Jamie!"

"Thanks, Addie, but why the CT?" he once again refrained from commenting on his wife's unfortunate appearance and doubled his worry now over the admission about an unexpected test. "It's neuro? I thought it was his heart? Did he have a stroke?"

"It doesn't look like it… at least not a big one. They are treating him for an arrhythmia though, so that's one of the possible complications to rule out. His heart was beating out of sorts, but it's back in a normal rhythm now. At first, they didn't think anything else was wrong, but after I came down he kept calling me Angela and talking about Joe bringing me to dinner this week," she admitted with a sad shrug and referenced her look-alike older sister who had one time been engaged to Jamie's brother before his death in the line of duty. "I mentioned that he was a little altered, and they decided to send him for the scan to be sure nothing else was going on. It's probably just an imbalance in the meds. We see it all the time. Try not to worry, okay?" she encouraged. "On a scale of all things happening back there today, Henry's doing fine. Go upstairs, and you'll hear it from the doctor himself."

"Yeah, okay… that's good, right?" Jamie acknowledged with a sigh of relief before reaching over and hugging his former girlfriend much to Eddie's vexation as she rolled her eyes behind their backs. "Thanks for looking out for us," he added just as his phone began to ring. "Danny," he informed them before walking away and taking a deep breath as he accepted the call. "Finally! What've you been doing?"

"Me? Kid, you're the one blowing up my phone! We're in with the three-bill-an-hour lawyer trying to work this thing out with Marcus. You sent us to him, remember? Linda's a mess, and I can't afford to be out here in the hall wasting any time doing this! Now, what's going on?"

###

 _"Kid, what's going on? Why do you have Mom's phone? My CO pulled me out of maneuvers and said she's been trying to reach me and to call home right away, but nobody's answering there!" Danny demanded in a rough, but an uncharacteristically panicked voice. "Is it Linda or Jack? Dad?" he demanded. "Joe?" he bellowed thinking of his rookie brother out on the streets wearing a shield as a target now. "C'mon! Jamie, I need to know!"_

 _"Grandma's really sick," Jamie answered flatly in a small, lonely voice as he sat by himself on a chair outside of the ICU while Henry and Mary were inside meeting with the doctor to hear the results after Betty was brought back from an emergency procedure. His mother tried without success to get through to Frank or Joe after many attempts so had tasked her youngest son to continue the efforts from here, and after growing frustrated he instead decided to reach out to his oldest sibling, the protector of the family. "Grandpa found her on the floor and brought her to the hospital. They think it's her heart, but that's all I know 'cause I'm not allowed to see her, and nobody else is here!" Jamie started crying as fear was settling in now. He had seen the look on his grandfather's face when they arrived, and as hard as he tried to stay tough like he knew his big brothers and father would expect, there was no holding back the feelings of a scared little boy right now._

 _"You're supposed to be here, Danny! Why'd you go away?"_

 _"Aw, Jay don't do this again," his older brother huffed as he absorbed the news and turned to slide his back down the wall to sit on the floor next to the phone bank while he pulled his cap into his chest before covering his eyes. Although his decision to enlist had been met with a wave of various emotions from the rest of the family including his wife who struggled to understand why he would choose to leave her and their young son in this manner, it had been Jamie who had internalized his feelings and shut down, outwardly refusing to acknowledge there were valid reasons behind Danny's decision to go off to war. His older brother had then turned the tables and chipped away at that settlement to give in to their mother's wishes and pursue an Ivy League degree thus driving yet another wedge between the two siblings who had suffered through a rocky relationship the past few years as the gap between their ages and perceived ideals tore them apart._

 _"We just got our orders to pull out Saturday. I'm headed overseas."_

 _"Can't you ask for some kind of emergency leave or something?" Jamie tried again frantically as the thought of losing two Reagan members at the same time was just too much to bear._

 _"Doesn't work that way, kid. Not for grandparents," Danny admitted with a heaviness in his chest as the realization hit that he could not be home with the rest of them at this time and it ripped his heart. "Immediate family only."_

 _"But, that's stupid! Grandma Betty is your immediate family!" Jamie retorted angrily. "It was your idea to leave now, and she's always been there for us!"_

 _"I know, kid, and I swear to you I'd be there if I could…"_

###

"We'll be there as soon as we can," Danny vowed and abruptly hung up after hearing the news about Henry, leaving Jamie to stare at his phone shaking his head just as the sliding emergency room entry doors opened to reveal an anxious Erin Reagan rushing in with her daughter on her heels.

"Jamie! How is he?" his sister demanded as soon as she made her way over to them. "What happened? Nicki had to stop at the office and get me! Why didn't you call?"

"I did, Erin… like eight times! Your secretary didn't even pick up. Why didn't _you_ answer?"

"Uncle Jamie, don't! Mom's already upset!" Nicki quickly defended, knowing that her mother's past actions might come up again in this instance so soon after the misgivings between her mother and Eddie over his accident.

"It's the evidence tampering case," Erin explained with a tight, worried grimace. "My work phone was confiscated. We had a US Attorney and an FBI Director unseal a two-count indictment against ADA Scanlon from my office first thing this morning. She's being arraigned at the Manhattan federal courthouse, like... right now…" Erin paused with a look at her watch and shook her head, clearly overwhelmed by the events of the day. "They're in the building reviewing all the files and serving subpoenas for everyone whoever shared so much as a cup of coffee with her… including me, Jamie. I've had two cases thrown out the past year because of missing evidence from the property clerk, plus that time my assistant tampered with a gun when it was under our custody. There's a big spotlight on me now. Anthony's under investigation, too. It's been… I can't even explain, and now this? I was supposed to be the next one questioned, but I told them I was leaving anyway unless they had a warrant with my name on it. Maybe they do by now. How is he?" she teared up and refocused on the crisis at hand.

"He got light headed and passed out at our house this morning, so Eddie called for a bus. Addison was just here and said he's stable though," Jamie tried to reassure his sister and niece as he gave them both hugs. "He's going for a scan, and then they're taking him up to the cardiac unit on seven for observation. She said they were treating him for an arrhythmia."

"Addie's a respiratory therapist, not a heart doctor!" Erin fretted. "You should have called his own cardiologist down here! Did he take his meds this morning? What did Dad say?"

"We did call Dr. Conklin," Eddie stepped in to take a little pressure off her husband, having first-hand knowledge of how demanding her sister-in-law could become over family medical issues. "He's the one that ordered the test and said he would meet us upstairs."

"Dad's on a flight to Seattle," Jamie explained further as he started to gather their things and Nicki was astute enough to take Kaylin from him as she could see her uncle was overdoing it. Even though his recovery was going well, there was still a limit to how much he could handle at one time without suffering the painful consequences. "He's not due to land out there until two o'clock our time, so we can't talk to him until then, okay? I'm not going to try to tell him about this in an email or a message or something while they're in the air, plus we don't really know anything yet. Danny and Linda are on their way. Let's just go talk to the doctor and see what's happening."

###

 _"Jamie! How is she? Where's Mom and Grandpa?" Erin demanded as she rushed down the hall dressed for court, limping on a broken heel while struggling to carry a bundled four-year-old sleeping Nicki only to find her upset youngest brother still sitting alone outside of the locked ICU unit._

 _"Oh, please don't be crying! That means it's bad! Here, can you take Nic for a minute?" she begged after noticing his puddled state and tried not to get overly emotional herself as he stood up to greet her while she reached over for a hug and to hand over the little girl._

 _"I'm sorry you were alone, and it took me so long to get here. I was clerking for Judge Fennel, and Jack had dinner plans with a guy from a firm uptown about a job opening. He's been trying to get in there forever, so he couldn't put it off," she griped at that excuse while kicking off her uncomfortable shoes which were certainly not made for carrying the added weight of a child at speed all the way up from the parking garage and through the hospital. "He wouldn't even pick her up from daycare for me!"_

 _"Dad'll kill him when he gets here," Jamie noted sadly. "He never liked the guy."_

 _"Right, I know," Erin sighed as she acknowledged that was the God's honest truth and was proving to be a sticking point in her young marriage. "Where is he, anyway?"_

 _"I don't know; nobody will tell me anything," Jamie sniffed in frustration. "Joe just called and said there's something big going on in Manhattan… he didn't know what, but they got assigned down in the subway tunnels all afternoon so that's why he didn't get back to us until now. Renzulli was taking him over to the 12th so he could grab his car, and he said he'd go find Dad."_

 _"Okay, that's good. Joe can take care of that and bring him here… c'mon, let's sit back down then," Erin tried to direct her spent little brother before the doors to the unit opened and they both looked up to see an apparently distraught Mary struggling to hold things together in front of her children as she came up to embrace them both._

 _"Mom, what's happened?" Erin cried as she caved immediately after witnessing that and let her emotions go in front of her mother. "Please tell us she didn't die!"_

 _"No, honey, but Grandma Betty's had a very serious heart attack," Mary informed them carefully through tears as she openly grieved for the older woman who served as such a matriarch to the whole Reagan family. "It probably started earlier in the week when she said she wasn't feeling well, but by now there's been a lot of damage to the muscle, and it's having a hard time beating properly. They've done a procedure to open the blockage, and tried to make her comfortable, but the doctor told us that she still might not make it through the night, so Pop is refusing to leave her side," she added and tried to let that shocking admission sink in before continuing. "I want us to all go down to the chapel and pray hard for her until your father gets here, okay? We need strength," she admitted as her own heart broke for an absent husband who would no doubt do the same when he heard that news._

* * *

 _That chapter is dedicated to jlmayer who was unfortunate enough to witness some of those medical emergencies firsthand recently and has my respect! Next, Frank steps back into the story in the past, and in the present, we find out the latest on Henry's condition. It becomes a battle with a stubborn Reagan patriarch as to how treatment will proceed on both fronts before a certain blonde, formerly known as Janko woman conjures up the spirit of one past and takes charge._


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"It doesn't appear to be a serious event… _this_ time," Dr. Conklin informed the worried Reagan family members as they gathered together upstairs to hear the news soon after Linda and Danny arrived. "For the last few months, I've been treating Henry medically for atrial fibrillation, also known as Afib which is an occasional quivering or irregular heartbeat. While Afib itself generally is not life-threatening, the complications can be very serious because it can increase the risk for other problems, including heart failure, as well as stroke. Today he's had some runs of what's called sick sinus or tachy-brady syndrome which is a specific irregular rhythm in which the heart beats too quickly and then too slowly. Symptoms can include a loss of consciousness like he suffered and ultimately with it comes a much higher risk of stroke since the blood is not being pushed through the ventricles the correct way, leading to the possibility of clots."

"But he hasn't had one of those, a stroke, right?" Eddie worried as she automatically rocked and bounced a now wide awake and alert Joey in her arms like a seasoned pro, having not yet taken the time to 'freshen up' as advised given that he had woken and loudly demanded to be fed while they were on their way upstairs. Now that the baby was happy and content, there was no way she was missing this conversation with the doctor since no one had been allowed to visit with Henry yet while he was being settled into his room, apparently against his will judging from the looks and casual remarks Linda was receiving from her fellow nurses. "Addison said you were testing him because he was acting off. I mean I saw it too right after he collapsed… he was really mad and talking about taking care of his wife. She died years ago."

"No, we've seen no indications of stroke, just those transient moments of confusion when the heart is beating too slowly, and oxygen levels drop. At the moment though he's stable and very clear… almost _too_ much so," Dr. Conklin admitted with a small, knowing smirk as he considered the willful-minded, unhappy Reagan patriarch being sequestered just down the hall. "In short, he believes this is all because he missed taking one pill this morning, and he's ready to go home."

"But I wasn't supposed to pick up his prescriptions until tonight!" Jamie declared anxiously as he glanced around with a guiltily expression evident. "He only asked me yesterday and said he had enough for today. I would have brought them to him right away if I'd have known!"

"It was most likely not that, although missing meds is not advised," Dr. Conklin assured. "Henry's been fighting me like a bear, tooth and nail against the fact I've advised him for some time now that he needs a pacemaker to regulate these possible arrhythmias, but he's been adamant he will not have another procedure done on his heart, even a very safe, simple one that's clearly in his best interest. I could implant one this afternoon in about an hour with just local anesthesia and he'd be home tomorrow with very few restrictions for a few weeks," he offered.

"This is because of Grandma," Erin reasoned as she threw her hands up in the air in frustration and turned around to huff and stare at the bare wall. "It always comes back to that, doesn't it?" she added before facing them again. "Does my Dad know?"

"Your grandfather insisted that I not share my recommendations with the Commissioner or the rest of the family until today because, and I quote, 'Now those nosy kids out there are gonna stick themselves in my business anyway, so you might as well go ahead and spill it!'" he revealed while mimicking a familiar grumpy expression with raised eyebrows. "I'm sure you know that Henry is…"

"A stubborn SOB," Danny finished for him as everyone else rolled their eyes at his candor. "What? Where do you think that pig-headed gene comes from? It's the truth, isn't it?"

"Takes one to know one," Linda mumbled under her breath.

"Language, Uncle Danny," Nicki chided as she sat in a chair next to Kaylin coloring with the little girl to keep her occupied while the so-called adults were talking. "Little ears," she reminded.

"That _was_ g-rated," he grumbled back.

"I was going to say very independent-minded, but I guess it all boils down to the same thing," Dr. Conklin admitted. "There's no law that says he has to accept a procedure if he doesn't want it, but if today is any indication treating it with only medication will fail and this will happen again, probably soon, and unfortunately if it's combined with say a fall down the steps or he hits his head on something, it could have immediate and tragic consequences... not just the long-term ones I mentioned before," he warned.

"Well, then he's going to get a pacemaker today," Eddie insisted as the issue seemed black and white to her even as that declaration was greeted with a series of snorts, sighs and stress tells from every other Reagan in the room. Even baby Joey voiced his displeasure although it soon became obvious he was working on another issue given the little screwed-up red-faced grunts accompanying it. "What? The doctor says he needs it! By the way, it's your turn, lambchop... Enjoy, and don't forget to cover up the Armani, he's got your aim," she added while looking to hand off their now malodorous son to her cleanly dressed husband since he had made a point of allowing her to sit in public before without mention of the little spit up meister's contributions.

"Have you met my grandfather?" Jamie asked incredulously while he stayed on track as Linda reached for the baby instead since she sought every opportunity to cuddle with her new nephew to relieve stress and ground herself as the issues with Marcus over guardianship of their soon-expected little bundle were mounting into an increasing number of snags while the younger man waffled back and forth over what he wanted his role to be in this arrangement just as she had feared in the beginning.

"I'll take him," she offered before grabbing the diaper bag to go attend to his needs on the other side of the room.

"Eddie, Pop has his reasons against," Jamie informed her sadly as he continued. "It's a long story and we might not understand them, but it all has to do with what happened to my Grandma Betty when she had her heart attack," he explained. "I'm not sure even Dad can change his mind on this one," he worried as a glance at his watch showed it to be just after noon and still too early to call his father to bring him up to speed and into the loop on what was happening.

"Well, what about you, Erin?" Eddie frowned as she looked at her sister-in-law, still not understanding the rest of the family's reluctance to tackle this issue head-on given the fact that they were Reagans after all and never had before hesitated to put themselves into each other's business. "He listens to you. Since when have you ever been afraid to say something to him, or anyone else for that matter?"

"Eddie, it's… complicated," Erin sighed. "The rest of us have been in this place before and pushed him to do something he didn't want to because it was supposed to be for the best, and… it didn't end well," she admitted with a sniff while wiping her eyes. "You've got to understand… what Pop and Grandma Betty had together was more than special… they were more than soulmates. Then again, maybe out of all of us you would know," she continued with a tight look while recalling the difficulties the two women had shared over recent months. "You spent all that time when Jamie was hurt worrying if you had made the right choices for him, and I'll admit I didn't help that. But what if you hadn't?" she challenged. "What if you had listened to someone else and forced him to do something he was against and only bad had come of it? Would you forgive yourself if he had suffered for months and then died? And then later if the same thing came up, and you were on the other side, would you make that decision for yourself again? If they were older, would Kaylin and Joey be able to change your mind? Because that's where Pop's at right now."

###

 _"Where is she right now?!" Frank Reagan's unmistakable, yet uncharacteristically shaken deep voice thundered ahead in demand as he hurried down the long hall from the elevator bank, the tails of his tan overcoat swinging along wildly behind while Joe followed at a near jog trying to keep up with his father's exaggerated stride, still dressed in his patrol uniform as his other two present siblings jumped to their feet to meet them and receive a heavy embrace._

 _"She's in the ICU," Erin reported as they approached. "I went in for a little before," she admitted as Jamie glanced down towards the floor with guilt evident since he had not found the same courage, although honestly, no one had approached him about that yet given that no more than two visitors were permitted back at a time and Henry had not been willing to step foot out of the room._

 _"It's bad though, Dad! She's hooked up to so many things," she added in an effort to prepare him for what he was about to see._

 _"Jamie, c'mere son… it's alright," his father murmured as he caught that look and the normally stalwart mustache quivered while he grabbed his youngest by the back of the neck and pulled him to his chest before slipping an arm behind Erin's back likewise drawing her close, so they formed a triangle with Joe closing in with a hand on Frank's shoulder. "Sweetheart, I'm sorry it took me so long to get here," he added and drew strength from a moment of family unity before it had cause to disappear. "Where's your mother?" he choked out._

 _"The nurse was out a few minutes ago and asked her to come back for Grandpa," Erin advised tearfully. "The doctors need to go in and do their evening rounds for the patients in that hall, and he won't leave the room… they said something about privacy issues. Nobody's allowed to visit at that time. You have to sign in and take one of the two passes before they'll let you back."_

 _"Of course, he would be stubborn, it's in his DNA," Frank muttered under his breath and sighed as he considered his father's reaction to this while continuing to worry over his mother and wanting nothing more than to force his way into the locked unit and find her for himself. Soon though, it was apparent that wouldn't be necessary as Mary emerged alone while shaking her head._

 _"Frank! Oh, thank goodness! I'm so glad you're here! He won't come," she cried as he released their children to go envelop her in a tight hug while Joe took up the supportive role with an arm firmly wrapped around Jamie's shoulder and a hand on Erin's elbow, expecting from that look that they were all about to receive the worst news. With Danny gone, it had been the middle Reagan brother who had quietly assumed that duty among them, and he was determined with a clenched jaw to see it through. Indeed, it had been that appearance of staunch resolve that had first clued Frank into the fact there was a serious problem at home when he was summoned by an insistent son from the secure situation room at 1PP where he had been out of touch along with the PC and the rest of the higher Chiefs while locked into an operation dealing with a credible terrorist threat against the city's mass transit system. When word came that the danger had been neutralized thanks in no small part to Frank's intuition, it had been Joe who guided his shaken father here and was ready to provide whatever backing was required. Now that role needed to be reversed, and it was up to Frank to do the same for his own as it was obvious Henry was not coping well._

 _"I'll go," he assured his wife quietly as she handed over the card to swipe for entry._

 _"First hall, three doors down on the left," she directed with a squeeze on his arm for strength as he gathered himself and forced his feet to move to that destination where his eyes glassed over at the sight of his father leaning over the side of the bed while seated on the edge of his chair and locked in obvious prayer over his wife._

 _"Pop," he choked out and for a moment allowed his eyes to focus past the plethora of equipment surrounding his mother and obviously tasked with keeping her alive. His knees nearly gave way as he took in the sight of the once vibrant, larger-than-life, indomitable Irish woman who had ruled their lives with a stern smile and a golden heart, now reduced to a pale shadow of herself and hardly recognizable. Tubes and wires were covering nearly every visible square inch and bespoke of an obvious critical condition._

 _"You have to come out now, the doctors need to work on her," he managed to add softly even as he moved to the bedside himself to take her opposite hand and lean in for a kiss. "I'm here now, momma. I love you," he whispered in her ear._

 _"She'll leave us if I go," Henry rasped out in a barely audible voice, thoroughly convinced of that fact as he took a stronger hold of her hand to anchor himself as if his own son would try physically to pull him away. "I knew she wasn't feeling well, but she wanted me to go to the market, and this happened! I should have never left her alone so long! It's my fault!"_

 _"Pop, you're talking crap, and they need to come in and help her!" Frank insisted a little more vigorously than before since to him his father was being his usual unreasonable, obstructionist self as the situation appeared to require an all-hands-on-deck approach and he desperately wanted everyone who could possibly do anything to save his mother's life to be allowed into the room at that instant. "You have to go out with me! Let the doctors in to see her, and then we'll come back and talk to them."_

 _"Francis, I don't have to do anything I damn well…"_

###

"...DON'T WANT TO!" Henry thundered adamantly with a huff as he shut down any further conversation about his doctor's recommendation for a pacemaker and Erin and Linda flatly struck out on their united quest to reason with the older man, having been appointed that initial mission once the family was allowed to visit with him. "Erin Marie Reagan, you go get my clothes, RIGHT NOW! And Linda, bring me whatever damn forms from the desk I need to sign myself out of here! I WANT TO GO HOME!"

"Pop, you need to stay the rest of the afternoon for observation at least," Linda tried to mollify and at a minimum get him to agree to that while backing off any talk of the procedure, which to this point had done nothing but rile him up. "Let's just calm down and see how you feel in a bit, okay? You've got everyone out there in the waiting room worried about you," she attempted to appeal to his sense of family.

"Well then they need to get the hell out of here too!" he continued to bite back.

"Okay, well, this is a lost cause!" Erin griped as she took a deep breath to steady herself after a completely vexing day. "I'm going out to see if Jamie had any luck getting through to Dad," she added before leaving her sister-in-law to incur Henry's wrath alone while she sought out her younger brother who was found pacing once again outside of the waiting room with his phone to his ear.

"Did you get ahold of him yet? Because we're going nowhere down there," she advised as if the rest of the hall wasn't already aware of that fact.

"Plane's in a holding pattern," Jamie reported. "There's weather in the area, and they can't bring it down yet. Honestly, at this point it's not gonna make much of a difference, is it?" he questioned as he shared her growing frustration. "Baker said every other airport in the region is socked under and they're expecting heavy fog to roll into this one shortly. Between that and the flights already canceled up and down the coast he'll never get out of there, anyway. Do you think he's going to have any more luck than we are? If anything, Pop will just dig in further to make a point of trying to show him who's boss. Maybe we should just let him come home and keep an eye on him until Dad's back or wait until he cools down a little and try again?" he offered.

"You really think that's gonna work, kid?" Danny questioned as he stepped over to join them in a little sibling tête-à-tête, having been kept out of Henry's room since everyone decided there would be no advantage to throwing gas on the Reagan patriarch's temper with a like-minded confrontation between the two. "Who you gonna put on him 24-7? Erin's got a hot mess at work, Nicki has school, Linda and I have to go and iron out this Marcus thing before that baby comes or she's just gonna kill me, and none of you will ever find the body," he admitted quietly. "And you just started back at a new job this week with a month-old newborn in the house. Even Eva's working overtime now. Who's that leave?"

"What about a full-time live-in nurse?" Jamie asked grasping at straws.

"Right, so where the hell are you gonna find one today and get 'em fitted for Kevlar?" Danny shot back incredulously just as Eddie stepped up to the group, having finally taken a moment to spruce up a little and change in the bathroom down the hall while Nicki minded Joey and Kaylin.

"What am I, chopped liver?" she frowned at their apparent willingness to concede to what she still considered a non-starter; Henry was having that pacemaker put in today if she was the only one left with the guff to have any say over it. "I'm home full-time. He'll stay with us."

"Ed, honey, it's just that you have your hands a little full with the baby right now," Jamie tried to appease her gently while trying without luck to avoid sparking his wife's ire as he questioned her abilities. "Besides, this is a…"

"...Reagan family problem?" she huffed with her eyes flashing as she challenged an insinuation that put her outside the box. "Because I know for a fact that's _not_ what you were going to say to me, Jamison! Let me talk to him! I'll get him to change his mind."

"Ed…"

"It's worth a shot, Jamie," Erin conceded. "No one else is winning. Do you have a better idea?"

"Tranquilizer dart?" he quipped. "Alright, go ahead," he gave in with a sigh as three pairs of eyes rolled in his direction. "We've got nothing to lose."

"Yes, we do!" Eddie snapped back. "You heard the doctor; we could lose Pop, and I will not have that happen in front of our children or me again if I have anything to say about it!" she vowed while reliving those scary moments earlier in the day when he collapsed in their home before stepping into the waiting room after a pause to formulate a plan. Her was mind made up, and she determinedly retrieved Kaylin with a whisper in her ear and lifted Joey out of his carrier.

"Eddie, they can't go back there… they're not allowed!" Jamie warned now that he clearly saw the cards she intended to play. "Kaylin will be scared!" he tried to reason instead when he saw the decided look on her face as she brushed past him.

"Janko's aren't afraid to play dirty when it's important, take note," she reminded flatly, and the three Reagan siblings were left to watch the little trio proceed down the hall together, only to stop at Henry's door and wave off Linda who thus far hadn't had any more luck.

"Pop," Eddie started quietly as they made their way into the room, knowing the older man would keep his voice in check in front of his gg's, and she deliberately used that to her advantage. "We need to talk."

"Why did you bring them back here?" he gruffed in a surprised, albeit in a softer manner and pulled the blanket higher over his gown given the fact that his sensitive great-granddaughter was clinging to Eddie's leg as she looked nervously around the room, remembering her daddy's multiple visits to such a place.

"Because you needed to see what you're giving up by being such a stubborn son of a… duckie," she retorted plainly while shifting Joey in her arms and keeping the conversation clean for the little ears present.

"Eh, what are you talking about? That thing he wanted to put in my chest? I can manage without it!" he insisted.

"This, Pop… holding your new great-grandson and the next one that's coming for Linda and Danny. I can't have you doing that when Joey's so little if I'm afraid you're going to pass out and drop him," she scolded before continuing. "What about your promise to teach Kaylin how to play handball or coming to her soccer games? Because the doctor said these arrhythmias are damaging your ventricles or whatever and if that goes on long enough you'll wind up with a stroke or congestive heart failure and have to be sitting in a chair alone somewhere or worse... and that will be your choice because you're being a pig-headed old man right now!" she added as it became evident that her anger was growing and she was losing the resolve to cover it.

"Do you realize what you put me through this morning? To turn around and see you laying at the bottom of the steps like that! Is that how you want Kaylin to remember you for the rest of her life? Because you know she doesn't forget!" she added as her voice broke and he looked away, ashamed as he vividly recalled that feeling of coming home and finding his wife in just that manner all too clearly.

"I know when you lost Betty it was the worst thing ever, and it had something to do with whatever the doctors did to her heart," Eddie continued and softened a bit as he was too choked up to speak in return or meet her eye. "Everyone else out there tells me I can't understand why you're so against this because I wasn't there when it happened, but I do. Believe me, I know she was your soulmate, and you made whatever choice you had to… If I would have lost Jamie… I mean I thought we did, remember? Twice. Everything inside of me wanted to die, but for our babies," she added as she hugged her two children tighter in front of him for emphasis.

"They're part of him, just like Joey's part of Betty's bloodline and you've said yourself that Kaylin has her spirit. It's because they live in her house now and we think about her every day. I never even met her in person, but I want to know more. I want you to tell us all about her, because I feel like she still visits there, and I want to honor her by being the kind of mother for my children and wife for my husband that she was to all of you, but I can't do that if you're not with us, Pop. Please," she begged. "Please have this pacemaker put in today so we can all have you around for lots more years… for these and the ones that might come after. She'd want more for them than sadness and crying over a headstone," she added in a familiar way in what could only be a direct sign from his beloved Betty above. "You'll come and stay with us at your old home for the next few days until Frank gets back and tell me all about the woman I owe my whole family to."

"You… you... drive a hard bargain, missy," Henry sighed and managed to rasp out eventually as he glanced back Eddie's way and she could see the raw emotion overcome him as he was once again clearly reminded of his forever angel. "So did she."

"Got that right, old man," Eddie affirmed with a twinkle in her eye now that it was apparent he was caving. "It's a required skill to be part of this family."

* * *

 _So Eddie of all people, with perhaps a little help from above, was finally able to get through to that stubborn son of a… duckie. Next, a new and slightly improved Henry arrives home and begins to recount some of the highlights and secrets of the time spent there with his beloved wife, Betty._

 _It seems like the FF gremlins have now set their sights on email notifications and PMs this week, so I'd like to offer a big thank you here to everyone who has reviewed and sent messages for this story so far. Now that the premise is set, we get into the fun part of exploring some of the events of the Reagan family past including why Peter Christopher remained such a secret all this time._


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"Hey, Ed, we're home," Jamie announced quietly as he escorted his grandfather through the front door early the next afternoon once he had been discharged after successfully receiving a pacemaker in a brief procedure the previous evening. "I've got to get back to work, but here's his paperwork," he added while laying down a folder, several small bottles and some papers on the counter. "They gave us a list of his meds and when they need to be taken, plus he can have one of these white pain pills every four hours today and tomorrow and then over-the-counter stuff afterward if it's still hurting him."

"Don't need those," Henry gruffed as he set his small overnight bag down. "Couple of stitches and a little sore spot. Nothing much to bother about," he insisted.

"Okay, well, that's good, right? You just let me know if you change your mind and want one," Eddie decided not to press as she immediately put all the medicine safely up out of Kaylin's reach even though the little girl was on a playdate with her friend Megan for the rest of the afternoon. "Anything else?"

"Not really," Jamie advised. "Dr. Conklin said he should feel like his usual self or even _better_ soon," he emphasized with a huff towards the still-obstinate older man who had continued to give him grief over this imposed confinement all the way home. "But it's best to avoid reaching up on the left side for four to six weeks… so no lifting anything from a high shelf and the next few days he's supposed to limit stairs as much as possible until he has a follow-up and they're sure everything is set right… maybe just up and down to sleep. Oh, and he needs to keep the stitches dry so probably use the hand shower down here," he added referring to their refurbished bathroom on the first floor which had proven to be a godsend during his own long recovery.

"I'll be fine," Henry insisted. "I heard all this myself, didn't I? Last I looked I wasn't deaf or senile, Jamison. You even had Francis on speaker so he could nose in on my business too… surprised he agreed to stay out west until the weekend. Now you better get back to 1PP, or you'll be looking for another job with the Feds again soon!" he ordered with a frown given his long-held contempt for the federal law enforcement bureau.

"Yes, sir," Jamie conceded sheepishly even as he purposefully ignored the directive and made his way in the opposite direction to the table to visit Joey who had just woken from a nap and was happily bicycle kicking away in his bouncy seat. "Hey, little man, I see you," he cooed with a smile as he tickled the baby's tummy and kissed him. "Are you being good for your momma today? Huh? Are you?... Wow, tell me he's still dressed in the same outfit as when I left this morning," he noted hopefully with an eye towards his wife who also seemed cleaner than what had become the recent norm.

"Yeah, imagine that I think we broke a record," Eddie agreed with a satisfied chuff at the sight of three of her favorite men together considering what each of them had been through individually lately. "Hopefully that's a sign the reflux will let up soon… the NICU doctor said a month or two since his was pretty persistent. Yesterday was his actual due date, so I'm not sure if he meant from then or when he decided to pop on out of the oven four weeks early to surprise us."

"Well, maybe he'll start growing and gaining a little more weight then, eh?" Henry observed as despite his adamant opposition to the level of fuss bestowed on him over this pacemaker, as a great-grandfather the same rules did not apply, and he was well within his rights to fret over the small infant at every opportunity.

"He's doing fine, Pop… I told you he had a checkup the other day and aced it," Jamie assured even though Joey's diminutive size had been a concern even before he was born. "Just had a bit of a rough start, didn't you little guy? Yeah, you did… s'okay though isn't it?… Must run in the family," he admitted while recounting the story of his own birth even as he forgot the history of an uncle no one knew had existed until recently… one who had suddenly failed to thrive before tragically passing, but that reality was never far from Henry's mind.

"He's still so tiny… Betty would have been beside herself," his grandfather mouthed under his breath considering how Peter's death had impacted their life afterward.

"Aw, don't worry! The doctor said he'd catch up within a year, and besides good things come in small packages," Eddie insisted as she noted the older man's angst even as her husband was unaware and still fawning over their son when he should be on his way. She knew if it was this hard for Jamie to adjust to working full-time away from the baby, that it would be tenfold as difficult for her to return to duty when the time soon came. "Isn't that right, Jamison?"

"Mm-hmm, that's right buddy, and Mommy will never let us forget it," he added in a sing-song voice as he planted one more kiss on the little boy's forehead before turning to give her the same. "I guess I have to get back," he sighed. "It's still tough to leave him, but I need to iron a few things out before an op next week. Dinner from Palermo's?"

"As long as it's something plain with no spices for me," Eddie reminded as she longed for a return to her once diverse food choices but breastfeeding a premature baby with some gastric issues had her restricted to a bland diet. "Turkey and sweet potatoes? Something else for another side. Still eating for two."

"Gotcha," Jamie noted. "Any special requests for you, Pop?"

"Nah, whatever looks good sounds fine to me, but I could cook tonight and save you the trouble," Henry insisted. "No sense in me just sitting here."

"Maybe tomorrow, let's just try to take it easy for _one_ afternoon so I can tell Dad I did my best, okay?" Jamie tried to appease before saying his goodbyes and taking his leave.

"That boy was born with those worry wrinkles... gets them from his father," Henry observed after he watched his youngest grandson close the front door.

"Oh, I think it probably goes back further than that," Eddie laughed before turning serious and deciding to broach a topic that seemed to be troubling the older man… one that had been taboo to discuss before now. "Pop, you said that Grandma Betty would have been upset over Joey's size, and that seems really to bother you too. Is that because of Peter and what happened? I somehow doubt Frank was ever that small," she noted and considered her father-in-law's substantial six-four frame. "Now that I have Kaylin and especially after what happened with the baby… I just can't imagine what you both went through. When did you notice something was wrong?"

"We didn't," Henry admitted sadly as he recounted the past before deciding to get something off his chest given Eddie's interest in learning about his wife. "Not until it was too late, and she never forgave herself for that. At the time we thought he was just lagging behind a bit although the signs were there… some bruises that seemed to be from bumping into things while he was playing, he complained about a stomach ache off and on... but they came on so slow, and he was always such a happy little kid the rest of the time we ignored them. When she did take him to the doctor because we thought he was losing a bit of weight, he said it was nothing, that Peter was just a picky eater and kids don't grow in a straight line, so he would catch back up. Then the next weekend it all went to hell. It'll be sixty-two years ago this Sunday," he reminisced as he stared out the kitchen window and remembered a very different backyard left behind in Woodlawn Heights with a new, virtually unused swing hanging in place. "That was about six months before we moved here…"

###

 _"_ _Henry Reagan, you're sure to spoil this child!" Betty chided when she came home after grocery shopping one June morning with an eighteen-month-old Peter Christopher at her side only to find her husband had finally returned from the precinct after a week of near constant duty making his bones on a big case as a newly promoted third-grade detective. Despite that, he had forgone sleep and was now busily assembling a seat for a child's swing he intended to install on a low limb of the old sycamore tree that adorned their small backyard._

 _"_ _Now, sweetheart, it's nothing," Henry assured as he looked up and noted his family's return with a smile. "He's always so pale, Bet… he needs to be outside more. Isn't that why we bought this place? So that our son could play in his own backyard? What kid doesn't like a swing?"_

 _"He's not pale; it only looks that way because of yer fair Irish skin that's been passed onto him," she returned before releasing the little boy's hand so he could investigate what it was that his father was up to. "Go on since you've missed your papa so," she urged with a good-natured huff as Peter eagerly ran over to help in spite of the fact he had been acting a little lethargic that morning after having suffered through a few nights of restless sleep which she attributed to Henry's continued absence. "Maybe you're right, and a little sun will do him good. Not too long though, I feel he's commin' down with a bit of a cold again," she warned as their young son had been prone to them in the past few months. "I'll go in and start a good stock of chicken soup for tonight to put him right."_

###

"That was it," Henry recounted as his eyes welled up with the memory and he stood transfixed in the kitchen of his old home while Eddie listened intently. "The only warning we had and the last day we spent together as a family with hardly a care in the world while Peter played in the backyard on his new swing," he added bitterly with guilt and considered the fact that he had spent so much of the last week of his oldest son's life away from the family. "By nightfall, he started with a fever just like Betty was afraid he might, and in the morning, it was so high we rushed him to the hospital. At first, they thought it was just some kind of virus that was going around the neighborhood. Then they ran some tests, and that's when they told us…"

###

 _"_ _...your son has Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. I'm very sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Reagan. It's a childhood cancer that affects the white blood cells and often presents suddenly with very few symptoms. These cells fight infection and help protect the body against disease. Patients with ALL have too many immature white blood cells in their bone marrow which crowd out the normal ones which is why these children are often vulnerable to frequent colds and infections. Unfortunately, because of that now Peter has developed sepsis… a serious staph infection is spreading throughout his body since he does not have the resources to fight it off."_

 _"But he'll be okay, right? You can fix this!" Henry begged as he gripped Betty's hand while he and his wife sat dumbstruck by the turn of events and the news being delivered across the desk in the sympathetic doctor's office. "If it's cancer, then there's treatment if not a cure, there has to be! We had him in for a checkup just last week, and he was FINE!"_

 _"_ _At this time there is a tremendous amount of research underway among cancer cooperative study groups," Dr. William Stanton informed them clinically before adding with deep regret at the shocking prognosis he was about to deliver which had held true then until the late 1960's when a series of breakthroughs began to push the current-day curative rates past 90 percent. "However, as it stands today this type of leukemia is invariably fatal. Even if remission is achieved, it is short-lived, and the children die, generally within a year. I'm afraid though that Peter's condition is critical right now," he added in an emphasized tone that left little doubt as to what the expected outcome would be._

 _"My son is going to die?" Betty finally voiced the words that were frozen in Henry's throat as she started to shake and rail against the diagnosis, even while knowing in her heart that what he said was true given her background in nursing. "And there's no hope for him? Is that what you're daring to sit there and tell me?! Oh, God in Heaven, NO!" she managed before burying her face in her husband's shoulder as the racking sobs overcame her. "NO! Not my Peter Christopher! Not my baby! It's just another one of his colds… he'll be fine! YOU'RE WRONG! TELL HIM THAT HE'S WRONG, HENRY! This can't be! My baby and I didn't know anything about it… Why didn't I know?..."_

 _"_ _Betty, sweetheart, now don't blame yourself. We couldn't have known, no one did," Henry whispered as he held her close and offered a final pleading glance at the doctor. "Please, is there any chance it's not that?"_

 _"_ _I'm afraid the blood test is definitive," Dr. Stanton admitted as he removed all hope and the world came crashing down around them. "We will do everything possible, but you must prepare yourself for the worst. Go and be with your son…"_

###

"And that's what we did," Henry summed up as his eyes fell back on Joey who returned the look as he seemed to concentrate and focus on the sad face before him. "We stayed with him for the next twenty-six hours until his little body couldn't fight the infection anymore and one thing shut down after the next before he went to be with God as Betty held him in her arms and rocked him to sleep. She never left his side, not once," he admitted with unabashed tears. "She just couldn't bear the thought that he might be afraid and without her at that time. Afterward, we just went through the motion of living for months, and every single day she would walk up the street four blocks to the cemetery no matter the weather to be with him for hours at a time. When I couldn't stand to see that anymore… to watch her punish herself for something that was in no way her fault… that's when I knew we needed to move away and get a fresh start where everything and everyone around there didn't remind us of what happened, and so we came here to this house. She didn't want to leave him even then, but I told her he'll always be here with us in our hearts… that he'd want more for her than sadness and crying over a headstone… those very words you said to me yesterday, sweetheart," he revealed before trailing off as he choked up.

"So that's why you gave in so fast when I asked you to get the pacemaker," Eddie reasoned and wiped her own eyes as she was overcome with emotion. "You knew she was the one talking to you because… I don't even know why I said that, but I'm so glad you listened. I guess it just proves she's here," she affirmed in a raspy voice as her heart panged for his evident grief as she joined him in front of the baby and wrapped an arm around his. "And still in love with you after all this time."

"She is, and this was a place we felt like would be home forever the minute we walked in the door," Henry agreed with a nod as he looked around the rooms and remembered the next forty plus years of happy marriage they shared. "And now so are you, sweetheart... you're here with Jamie and Kaylin and this beautiful little boy. That's why it was so important to me that it stayed in the family… so I could share that with her. You've brought joy and happiness to my grandson in this house, just as Francis did back then when we were so lost I never thought we could feel that way again. He saved his mother's life right from the start… mine too."

"Well, that sounds like another story or two that I need to hear," Eddie insisted just as Joey gave a hiccup before breaking his streak and baptizing his once-clean onesie with an impressive amount of spit up. "Oh no, munchie!… Well, so much for that," she sighed and surveyed the damage. "Looks like this one is going to require a bit of a tub," she added before gathering her son to take him upstairs for a cleanup and change. "Have a seat, Pop, while I go take care of this little meister, and then we both want to hear all about whatever trouble his Grandpa Frank got into when he was this age. I bet Grandma Betty had her hands full with him too."

* * *

 _Next up, Henry continues to reminisce about his wife as we learn more about Francis Xavier Reagan's somewhat accidental start in life as their only additional child, and perhaps just why his mother decided to keep the truth about his older brother's life and death away from him._


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

 _"Betty, I think this is the last one; it's marked 'PCR,'" Henry called out, well aware of what the contents were as he carefully moved the final box inside from the porch and closed the door just after the mover's van backed out of the driveway and drove off, leaving them alone and insulated from the past in a new house, a new neighborhood, a new church, a new precinct in what he hoped would be a clean break from painful memories that had come between them requiring a much-needed reset for their short married lives together. With his wife's parents now both deceased, coupled with a self-imposed exile from his own abusive alcoholic father and the mother who enabled him, there were no family ties to bind them to their old life in Woodlawn Heights where Peter lay still with his maternal grandparents on ethereal watch over him in the family plot, and the fact that Betty had isolated herself away from their social circle over the course of the past six months as she continued to mourn meant they were free to move on here in virtual anonymity._

 _"Where would you like me to put it, dear?" he asked, uncomfortable with what he knew her answer would be given the fact that unlike any of the other boxes now stacked about and littering various rooms in the much-larger home, this one had been thoroughly taped shut with several layers of heavy binding over all the seams as Betty sought to pull the memories of an agonizing time from the open and lock them away in the past._

 _"Henry Reagan, we talked of this before, did we not? It goes in that tiny attic space above the closet upstairs away from the rest since it was yer idea to move here and put all things behind us. You said yourself everything we left behind in the old neighborhood would remind us of our angel. If we keep his pictures and things about, don't you think everyone else who comes here will be sure to ask why he is not with us?" she cried from the kitchen. "I have no wish to explain to perfect strangers where it 'tis my son now rests alone!" she railed back with some of the same anger and pain in her heart that they were looking to escape, and he did not dare cross her. If keeping Peter a secret, for now, was what she needed to move past his death, then that was what must be, he reasoned. Unknown to his wife, he had taken one of the most recent small photos of their son out of the frame before it was packed and carefully placed it in the back of his wallet. While Betty's exacting, photographic "elephant" memory as he often referred to it allowed her constant access to his visage, Henry had no desire to let the passage of time dull his memory of the smiling little boy he loved in life and death._

 _"Alright, sweetheart, whatever you say. I'll take it up there right now and put it away," he conceded and readjusted his grip on the box before heading upstairs to do her bidding, all the while praying this move to Bay Ridge had been the right thing to do by her._

 _###_

"Okay, Pop's all set up in Kaylin's bedroom, and after three stories she's snug as a bug on the air mattress in the nursery, so hopefully everyone can sleep well tonight, right bud man? Pretty please? Now, what's in the attic over the closet?" Jamie whispered with a yawn and a kiss on his son's cheek later that night as he crawled into bed next to Eddie. Joey was taking a feeding before being settled into his bassinet next to them for what both anticipated would be one of his short, nighttime naps as had been his habit since arriving home. "We cleared everything out of there last summer," he reminded his wife who was bound and determined to recount all she had learned that afternoon from Henry during one of the couple's infamous little late-night chitchats.

"Apparently, not everything."

"Mrs. Peterson's hoard was downstairs, and in the basement," he added. "The attic was almost clear; I never saw anything else. Maybe they took it."

"No, it's not in the main part. Pop said there was a separate little cubby over the hall closet because of the way the roof gables angle. There used to be steps in there to get up to it, but since the space was so small they never used it for anything else, and they took them out when they remodeled the master bath and made it bigger. Now there's some kind of access panel in the ceiling. He forgot all about it until now. Maybe you can have Danny or one of the boys crawl up to see if it's still there next time they're over since you're not really steady enough on your leg to be up on a ladder, okay?"

"Alright, sweetheart, whatever you say. We'll take a look up there this weekend," Jamie conceded before the enormity of what his grandparents had suffered through and hidden away for all those years struck him and he propped himself up on his arm to look over her, still in awe of the incredible, beautiful bond between his son and wife, the mother who carried and protected Joey's life within her all those months and now continued to nourish the child in her arms. "It's kinda weird though that they put his things away in the attic, isn't it? Even his pictures? I can't imagine why Grandma Betty wanted… I mean had to do that… Would you? For all those years she just went on without telling any of us as if Uncle Peter never existed, not even my parents when they had those two miscarriages. At least Mom would have understood then. If something ever happened to Kaylin or Joey… could you really pack all their things away and forget?"

"Jamison Reagan, don't you dare _ever_ say anything like that about our babies or your grandmother again!" Eddie hissed as she pushed him aside with a fiercely protective maternal look down at their still-somewhat fragile, but by all accounts, now healthy little boy who continued to suckle away unperturbed. "I'm sure she never came close to forgetting! Not for one minute! Could you?! But I think she was just trying her best to cope and do whatever she needed to move on. Look at how many marriages fall apart today if a child dies… something like eighty percent and we've both seen it on the job… the constant reminders and stress are too much to take, and the parents move away from each other, or God forbid, do something worse. Back in the 50's, being a devout Catholic without the support of her family anymore… that wasn't an option for her. She was always good mother though, and maybe that's exactly what made her stay so involved with Frank and worry over all of you when you were growing up."

"You're right, she was the best Grandma ever; I'm sorry," Jamie acknowledged with guilt that the question had caused his wife to become so instantly red-line momma bear defensive as he lay back down. "I guess we didn't help with all the other stuff Danny, Joe and I pulled... like that time I fell down the steps here or when I stopped eating because Erin made me lie about the dent in the car. No wonder she and Pop were so upset about that. We just never knew the details before and it makes me sad to think she felt like they needed to keep what happened to Peter a secret all that time. It's not like it was her fault anyway, I mean back then they couldn't have done anything for leukemia. Pop was married to her for forty-six years and never betrayed her trust either. Imagine how hard it was for him too, especially when Dad found out he had an older brother last fall."

"He said she didn't want your father growing up missing someone he never knew," Eddie told him. "You want to know another secret though?" she whispered as she glanced over at him while her eyes danced with the juicy little tidbit she was about to drop. "We're all lucky to be here at all. After Peter died, Betty said she didn't want to have any more children, but then one night right after the move they had a little picnic on the living room floor in front of the fireplace, and there was some wine… and well, you know what happens when Reagan men get tipsy and carried away. Sound familiar?"

"Oh, God! Too much information, Ed!" Jamie groaned as he reached over and pulled the pillow over his eyes, trying in vain to not let _that_ image get seared into his brain—the one reminiscent of the story of his own conception in the house on Harbor View Terrace on a rainy Valentine's Day night, or that of their little beloved bean now aside of them who got his start under the same circumstances during their honeymoon in Iceland. "He actually told you that?! Was he high on one of those pain pills at the time? I swear I'm never gonna be able to make love to you downstairs ever again now! It's bad enough to think of my parents that way, let alone him and Grandma! Ugh! This family's gotta learn to stay away from the bottle and fireplaces when it's cold outside! We're done, and Kaylin and Joseph are never touching a drop! Do you hear me, Edit Katalin?"

###

 _"Betty! I'm home!" Henry announced with a bit of added jig in his step as he closed the front door after shift one Friday evening in mid-March just shy of a month past their initial arrival in Bay Ridge. "Did you hear me? Sorry I'm a little late, sweetheart, but baby, it's still cold outside!" he joked as he set a good bottle of her favorite red wine down on the counter and rubbed his hands to warm them with the anticipation of perhaps enticing her into a recap of one very pleasant evening the two had spent together a few weeks before._

 _"Should I start a fire?" he continued since the impetus behind the move appeared to be working, at least in his mind. Betty seemed to be far more relaxed in the new environment, or at least had allowed herself to be occasionally distracted with a return to physical intimacy between the two, and it had afforded them the opportunity to begin to reconnect as a couple even though he recognized it was much too soon to bring up the possibilities of anything else… still, there were so many empty bedrooms upstairs and a gaping hole in his heart that a beautiful little boy had left behind._

 _What Henry Reagan didn't know at that very moment was the card had already been played, and his wife had fallen headfirst back into the dark abyss of guilt and despair she had just managed to claw her way somewhat free of immediately after realizing that fact earlier in the morning._

 _"Betty?" he puzzled again when she did not answer, and a glance around the downstairs revealed nothing of her presence, only their breakfast dishes still sitting uncharacteristically unwashed in the sink of the ordinarily tidy kitchen._

 _"BETTY!" he cried again with fear gripping absolutely every cell in his body as he ran to the steps and climbed them two at a time while considering all types of wild possibilities. Having been on the job for nearly four years now, he had witnessed the aftermath of many sad family situations and the depression that could follow so knew intrinsically that sometimes the worst came just after the light seemed to dawn. Still though, surely not her, not his dear, faithful wife…_

 _"Oh, Betty! There you are, thank goodness!" he sighed as the relief that swept over him was immense and nearly stilled his own heart when he turned the corner and found her sitting up on the bed instead, her own mother's old bible laying open on her lap with family letters strewn about and tears in her eyes. Frequent prayer and meditation had become her only escape in the months after they buried their son and he was immediately concerned that something had happened to drive her backward and into utter despair once more._

 _"Honey, what is it? What's wrong?" he demanded gently as he took a seat next to her. "Were you up here all day? Why didn't you answer me?"_

 _"I cannot... oh, Lord our God, please help me! I cannot understand his reason behind this," she whispered more to herself in a semi-panicked voice while still distractedly turning the pages back and forth to various passages and only half-acknowledging her husband's presence in the room as she had apparently lost all notion of time in her distress._

 _"I prayed on it all morning after speaking to Father Campion," she revealed finally and referenced the young Jesuit priest at their new church who had been very kind and sympathetic when learning of his new parishioners' plight, agreeing to keep their confidence and counsel the couple weekly together and Betty privately whenever it was needed, so she had taken to attending his early morning masses daily. "I tried the book of Revelation, 'He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away,' and Ecclesiastes," she quoted in one breath. "There is an appointed time for everything, and a time for every affair under the heavens. A time to give birth, and a time to die…"_

 _"Sweetheart, slow down, and all those things are true, aren't they?" Henry offered softly, misconstruing the reason for her angst as he wrapped an arm around her and attempted to be supportive. "Father Campion tried to help you see that last week when we spoke… that when things like this happen, the world can seem full of loss, pain, sorrow, illness, and death and our lives will not always be rosy. Sometimes it's because of the things we do, sometimes it's the result of somebody else's actions, or sometimes like with Peter it's no one's fault, especially not yours or mine, just simply a consequence of living as human beings on this earth. I thought you were beginning to accept that?"_

 _"That's not what he gave me to pray on today," Betty revealed as she gave her husband a pained look and frantically flipped to another bookmark as he grew more concerned over her anxious demeanor. If he hadn't known better, he would have thought they had stepped back in time to that day their son lay dying in the hospital when the hurt was unbearably raw, and she had sought answers from her shaken faith for the terrible event they were being forced to endure. "He told me to heed the words of Job 1:21... 'Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there. The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away; Blessed be the name of the Lord!'" she pointed to the page before turning her face into his shoulder and crying. "Oh, Henry!… What if He giveth to us again after I sinned before Him and betrayed His will when I said I didn't yearn for another, but then we allowed ourselves weakness in the moment, anyway? Now, will He taketh again too? I am not strong enough and cannot bear it!"_

 _"Betty, what the hell are you talking about?!" he demanded now as he took her by the shoulders and sat her up straight to look in her eyes, concerned that she was indeed suffering from some kind of break and cursing himself for this insistence that they pack up and try to leave everything behind in the past. "What has you so upset? You're not making any sense!"_

 _"I am in fear over this!" she cried and stared back at him as he searched her expression for some minute clue as to what was behind it, although nothing prepared him for the shock that descended as her hand slipped down over her belly, and the realization of exactly what was causing her dread hit him squarely. "Henry Reagan, what have we done?"_

 _"Oh, Betty," he breathed as he tempered his reaction given her state even though his own heart beat with joy for the first time since that terrible day as he had himself longed for this to happen at some point. "Sweetheart, it was only just that once. Are you sure?"_

 _"I know me own body and what it has to tell," she sighed with a sad nod that admitted the truth… that without a doubt in her mind she was with child again. "Have you ever known me to be off my time and have breakfast not sit well? I haven't been able to think straight since it came over me this morning!"_

 _"Only that once," Henry acknowledged as he pulled her close again and remembered quite the opposite reaction to this same news nearly three years before when they had been blissfully naïve as to the happiness and heartbreak that lay ahead through Peter's nearly entire textbook pregnancy, delivery, and short life. "But Betty, we don't know until we know, right? You need to see a doctor first… and, honey, if it's true, then you must see this as a blessing. We can't go on through the rest of our lives living in fear that every good thing will be taken away again."_

 _"I am always in fear! I fear that you will walk out the door and never come back home to me with bullets flying past yer thick Irish head near every day!" she admitted as the realities of being married to someone so bold and committed to the job had only been compounded by Peter's death. "I fear that this child will be taken away too because I dared question His wisdom when I should have held strong to our faith!"_

 _"That's not so. I'll always do my best to come home to you, and from now on I'll do everything in my power to help you remember that," Henry vowed as he continued to hold and assure her that they would face this together. "I know it's hard right now, but someday you'll see this was a gift, Betty… maybe even from Peter himself because he wants you to feel that happiness of being a mother again. It's because of him we're on this new path here in this house, right?"_

 _"I miss him so though, Henry… some days still I can barely manage to lift myself out of bed."_

 _"I know, sweetheart, but Father said something the other day that really made sense to me… that grief over this kind of thing is like a great weight that never really goes away. When you first pick it up, it's heavy and hard, and you struggle to find a way to hold it. Then even though it never changes as time goes on it begins to feel lighter because you get stronger and learn new ways to carry it. You can do it, Betty, we both will together. Have faith in that."_

* * *

 _So what's with those Reagan men in werks-world?… A little alcohol, cold nights and fireplaces, right? All bouncing baby boys to follow nine or so months later too, hmm… You can find the story behind Jamie's conception in the first three chapters of the original "Snapshots - From the Series" in my profile starting with "Be My Valentine," and of course the little Joey bean was planted in similar fashion during Eddie and Jamie's "Honeymoon" chapters in the "Snapshots II" collection which also includes some of the other bits about his fall down the steps ("Karma with Sprinkles on Top") and issues with Erin's dent in the car ("Goody Two-Shoes")—so much fun to connect all these things together in this piece!_

 _Next, Eddie continues her probe into the past while her mother joins the conversation and we find out a little more about the current state of Eva Janko as well as how Betty dealt with her second pregnancy and what might have triggered her return to Irish momma bear mode._

 _Since FF is still having issues more than half of the notifications and PMs are ending up floating somewhere in cyberspace, which is disheartening as an author, but thanks again to everyone for reviewing and reading. Even though it concerns me that some might be missing updates, I will continue to post on a Tuesday/Thursday schedule for now and cross my fingers they will fix it soon so please look for a new chapter on those days even if the email alerts aren't sent!_


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"Wow, I can't imagine… wait, yes I can considering the fact that munchie here came about almost exactly the same way, and now that he knows about _this_ multi-generational family tradition, Jamie says we're not allowed to get... um, tipsy anymore," Eddie covered for the little ears present as Joey was awake and seated in his bouncer while Kaylin continued to sleep in late upstairs after another night interrupted with an intermittently crying brother in the house. "At least not in front of a fireplace anywhere for a minimum of three more years or until he makes a higher pay grade," she kidded before sighing at the thought of what she would be missing.

"Edit, where are your manners?" Eva tutted as she prepared a tray of fruit and a carafe of hot spiced tea for breakfast before work and brought both to the table to share with Henry. "Not everything personal these days must be announced on social media."

"Huh, ain't that the truth," Henry gruffed in complete agreement with his grandparenting counterpart as he nodded and thanked her for the service. "That's exactly what's wrong with this generation."

"Oh, please, don't be a pair of prudes," Eddie chided to her elders. "It's been so long since we've had… well, first he was hurt, then I was on bedrest, and now we have to wait because... I mean I _really_ miss it!" she practically hummed in place. "Maybe that's why Jamie took a cold shower and went off to work so early this morning," she concluded with a smirk at her husband's growing restlessness in the bedroom when it came to this matter. "There's really nothing wrong with a married couple being a little, what's the word?... _frisky_ in their own house," she settled on even as she was also impatiently waiting for Dr. Geisner to give the all clear to do just that now that they were nearing the magical six-week postpartum mark. "I'm sure you and Daddy had some fun downstairs at home too, right?" she asked before deciding that had been a step too far given the Hungarian death stare reflected back. Eva had once again become touchy as of late with the subject of Armin Janko considering his release from Federal detention appeared imminent which no doubt meant they would come face-to-face back here at some point in the near future as he sought to reunite himself with his formerly estranged daughter and now two previously unseen grandchildren… a realization that had the older Janko woman actively searching for her own home as a retreat elsewhere in the city.

"Okay, well, maybe not... So, Betty _was_ pregnant already at that time though, with Frank, right?" Eddie redirected and continued with the story that had come to intrigue her to the point where she forgot herself again in the excitement and added an unfortunate comment on the end that left her wincing with regret as soon as the words left her mouth when she recalled her mother's own past tragedy. "She went through so much already; please tell me she didn't have a miscarriage or anything too… oh, crap… sorry, Mom! I didn't mean to..."

"It is fine, Edit," her mother replied back evenly although the hurt was still plainly evident in her expression after all of these years. "Unless it happens to you, it is not understood, and one must get used to hearing questions like that in the beginning when a child is lost. Many times early on I was asked where your older brother or sister was by casual acquaintances who had not seen me after to realize what had happened. Young people of this age do not understand the time past when everything was not known or posted for the world to see."

"What your mother says is true," Henry nodded as he sat back and remembered. "Although I don't know if it was harder for Betty when someone assumed that Francis was her first, or when they asked where our other children were. Being Irish Catholic here in the 50's, we were definitely in the minority with just one. Eventually, she took to ignoring the question altogether rather than lying and bringing it up in confession every week, even if Father Campion understood what she was going through and gave her a pass on it in the beginning. I remember the very first time it happened though. We were in a new doctor's office down on Ovington Avenue waiting to hear if she was pregnant or not. She was sure by that point of course and said it was a waste of time and money to wait a week for the test and then another for the appointment, but I pushed her to have it done anyway because I thought it would give us both peace of mind and back then you couldn't just run down to the drugstore for a little pink box. The man came highly recommended, but was such a son of ah… duckie," he caught himself with a sheepish look towards his great-grandson. "I guess I should have thanked him though because he made her so mad it sort of snapped Betty back into momma bear mode again, and she stood up and gave him what for. We never went back there again," he chuckled.

###

 _"Mr. and Mrs. Reagan, congratulations are in order, your test was positive," Dr. Wilton Snyder informed them rather clinically and without any further ado while he looked down and continued to review Betty's chart when they took a seat in his office nearly three weeks after her initial realization. "By these calculations, you appear to be approximately seven weeks along with a due date the last of November... I'm sorry, I assumed this was good news, yes?" he added as a glance up after an uncomfortable, silent pause showed his new patient to be sitting somewhat stone-faced as what she already knew to be true was confirmed while her husband gripped her hand in support. Given her state, Henry cursed himself for the fact that due to another high-profile case that he and his partner had been assigned, his wife had been compelled to come here alone earlier for the initial testing, and then today once again as he had been delayed and late to bang off shift at the precinct, forcing Betty to arrive by herself and complete all the intake information without him. Their name had been called almost immediately in clockwork fashion after he rushed through the door leaving no time for questions, and it was evident from her cold demeanor that something very upsetting had occurred before then._

 _"_ _Yes, yes, it is," Henry answered for both as he rubbed her arm anxiously in an attempt to comfort her. "My wife is just a little overwhelmed," he explained without going into all the sorted details, but with growing concern over the fact that she had become increasingly rigid since walking into the office. "We weren't exactly ready for this."_

 _"_ _Oh, well, Mr. Reagan, I can assure you that first-time pregnancies can seem daunting, but the majority of men have managed to survive them for thousands of years, so no need to worry," Dr. Snyder offered with a snide laugh in joking fashion and more than a comfortable air of holier-than-thou indifference for Betty's feelings as her growing ire was flash-triggered at that dispassionate comment and she was quick strike back._

 _"'Tis not my first! I can speak on me own, and for a mother, there is always cause to worry!" she railed back as she finally found her voice which was strong and sharp for the first time in months._

 _"_ _I must have the wrong information then," the doctor puzzled as he reviewed the notes and glanced back at her. "The nurse who took your history earlier indicated you have no other children."_

 _"In the home! She dared ask me if I had another child at home as if it t'were the only outcome and I do not! Ye should have her inquire if there had been parturition or a prior birth instead! I have me nursing license too, and so ye know her questioning skills are as poor as they come!"_

 _"Our son passed from leukemia last June," Henry quickly revealed to the confused man in front of him who had clearly not bargained on addressing such an emotionally charged and aggravated patient given the positive result which generally was the desired outcome in his field and made for a comfortable, happy appointment and another series of checks to cash. It didn't take a third-grade detective's skills now to deduce what was behind Betty's flashing eyes or where this conversation was about to go._

 _"_ _I see... my condolences on your loss," Dr. Snyder responded evenly in what he considered an appropriate fashion before moving on to the matter at hand as in this more modern day and age women were increasingly expected to deliver their babies at the hospital instead of at home if they had means and his services were in great demand here in the city with a number of other affluent patients waiting to be seen. "Alright, Mrs. Reagan, since you seem to be informed and you've been through the process before, there's no need to go over what to expect unless you have any questions or concerns. The receptionist will set up monthly appointments…"_

 _"I think not!" Betty asserted as she stood up, and for the first time, Henry saw a bit of the old guff and confidence return that had drawn him to her in the beginning like a moth to a flame. "I've seen what passes with doctors like you in the labor and delivery wards! 'Tis an inconvenience to do anything but lock the fathers out in the hall and drug the mothers to where they cannot be a bother or remember a thing. Well, I'll not have it, not this time! This baby will come to us at home if needed. Let's go, Henry, we're leaving. Since I am a lady, I'll thank you for the three minutes of time ye managed to spare for me, but I will find someone else who intends to respect my wishes on how and where I want this child brought into the world!"_

 _###_

"Wow, way to go Grandma Betty!" Eddie cheered openly for the Reagan matriarch who was apparently ahead of her time. "Now I realize how lucky I was to have Dr. Geisner through my pregnancy. She never treated us like that, no matter how busy she was or how many questions we had about the baby and what was happening with the kidneys or his size. She even managed to keep Joey's little secret when we thought we knew better and tried to hide the fact that intern made a mistake and told us we were expecting a girl."

"Yes, and that cost me nearly an entire week of repainting, repapering and returning everything pink that was bought for _your_ lány before _my_ unokája came home to us from the hospital," Eva chided as she put her dishes away before returning to give her grandson a quick kiss on the cheek and leaving for work. "A nagymama még mindig szeret, az én kicsit," she reminded and spoke softly to him in Hungarian as was her way. "Grandma still loves you, my little one... I may be late tonight, Edit. Do not wait on the meal," she continued while gathering up her purse and brief as her heels clicked on the floor. "There is a two-bedroom brownstone parlor apartment near Prospect Park with stairs to a small garden space that has come into our agency's listings and seems to be within my taste and means. If it is so, I may wish to make an offer before it is put on the market."

"Oh, Mom, that's great, but we'll really miss having you here, won't we munchie?" Eddie declared with a disappointed frown at her mother's newfound determination to find a place of her own even though just a year ago those words would have been the last ones out of her mouth had the same situation arisen. "Are you sure? You know there's no rush, and you're welcome to stay as long as you want."

"Ah, but perhaps it is time before I come home one evening and find you and Jamison a kandalló előtt zömök," she added as Eddie's cheeks and ears blushed instantly red at the thought while her mother smiled at the intended reaction and took her leave out the front door with a quick goodbye and well wishes added for Henry.

"Do I have to ask what that meant?" he chuckled at his granddaughter-in-law's apparent level of embarrassment. "I take it 'kandalló' has something to do with the fireplace."

"Jamie would just die if he knew she said that!" Eddie huffed before laughing it off. "Not a word to him old man!" she wagged her finger at him.

"It's good to see that you and your mother have mended your fences," Henry observed as the relationship between the two Janko women had grown close once more over the course of the past months since Eva had moved in to help with Jamie's recovery and the baby's arrival. "It's important, especially now," he added and nodded towards the little one before advising her to continue that with the paternal component. "You both need to try to do that with Armin. Joey and Kaylin should know their other grandfather too. How do you think she'll handle it when he's released?"

"Well, she's determined to get her own place now as soon as possible so that she doesn't have to see him if he comes here, so I guess that sort of answers your question," Eddie sighed.

"Maybe she still has feelings for him," he offered knowingly.

"That's what she's scared of, I think," Eddie agreed with a sad nod. "Or maybe she's afraid he'll rip us all apart again... It has been nice," she added. "To have my mom back, I mean... I don't want to have to choose between them again. Speaking of which," she deflected nervously once more away from the impending showdown between her parents. "How did Betty deal with the rest of her pregnancy? Was she happier about it? Did she find another doctor that was nicer?"

"Oh, yes," Henry recalled as he sat back. "As the months passed, and she started to show… everything physically came easy to her, thank goodness, so she finally allowed herself to heal a bit and open her heart back up again. My Betty came back piece by piece with Francis inside of her, and he, although we didn't know if it was a boy or a girl of course… heh, as it turns out neither did you... but _he_ gave her a reason to go on, and she decided she was going to be fully present for the birth of that baby, which was a bit ahead of her time… or rather behind it, maybe," he reasoned considering the transition in that era between home and hospital births. "With Peter, she had gone through what was done back then… the bit where they knocked the woman out, and the fathers waited outside in the hallway while they did God-knows-what to them behind closed doors until it was time to pass out the cigars. This time she searched around and found a woman named Mary Crawford, who was one of the few certified nurse midwives in the country. Mary had started a new obstetrical clinic at Columbia Presbyterian before founding a program to train others to do the same at the school of nursing up there. Wonderful woman… with a touch of wicked humor," he laughed at the memories. "She and Betty hit it off as friends and were as thick as thieves by the time the baby was ready to come. Now the birthing was still done in the hospital then, but in a regular room instead of the OR, and the midwives were more of a presence than the doctor unless something went wrong. Fathers still mostly waited in the hall and weren't expected to do a lot which was good, because there I was again stuck working a lead over in Flatbush while my partner's wife drove up there with her for an appointment, and my CO had to track me down and let me know Betty's water had broken and labor started. Back then there was no such thing as paternity leave, and I had it in my head to move up to second- and first-grade as soon as I could make enough collars, so we didn't have to worry about the money. She was more than a week overdue at that point, and as stubborn as he is, when Francis makes up his mind to do something, well, there's still no holding him back, even though he was no itty-bitty baby bean like your Joey…" he continued with a smile as the events of that momentous day flashed back.

* * *

 _Yup, going to hit pause right there on this chapter and save the details of baby Frank's arrival for next time along with some more tidbits about those early years like just where that hated middle name Xavier came from (hint: it all ties back to the house) and maybe even a small clue as to why after all that Frank decided to follow family tradition by inflicting his own firstborn with the dreaded moniker of Daniel Fitzgerald._


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

 _"Ruthie, bless your heart for taking all this time out of your day and away from yer own son to accompany me here," a very tired and resigned sounding Betty Reagan offered as she and her rather prominent belly were carefully being helped out of the hired car and gratefully into a waiting wheelchair for a short trip inside to the new obstetrics ward on the first floor of the west wing at Columbia-Presbyterian hospital for another scheduled checkup._

 _"I think this child is trying to test me faith with all these false starts. I've been ignoring the same twinges all morning now until Henry agreed to leave. Twice before he banged in a day from work to bring me thinking it 'twas the time only for us to be told there was no sign of anything starting yet. Now he has hardly any left to use, and Lieutenant Branson has been givin' him the evil eye as of late."_

 _"Oh, Betty, it's not a worry as I've told you before. My sister was happy to sit with Gerry, and our husbands are partners now, so we need to look out for each other too, right?" her newfound friend of several months and a fellow NYPD detective's wife Ruthann McLaughlin assured as she paid the taxi driver with Betty's money at her insistence before beginning to push the chair inside. "Michael's been saying the same thing about the boss for the past few weeks. He thinks Branson's making a push for Captain on next month's promotions list, so he intends to work the whole squad to the bone until then. Heaven forbid he's passed over another round; we'll never see our men at home again."_

 _"Henry's claim is the same," Betty agreed as they entered the building, thankful that her husband had been paired up with this other young, but seemingly competent and already trusted detective in recent months as it eased her mind tremendously. "I wish he would get the bump," she continued referring to Branson. "T'would be a blessing for him to move on… oh, my!" she grimaced as her attention was diverted back to the matter at hand and the rather strong contraction that had just struck, seemingly out of the blue. "Well, perhaps ye have a mind to do something this time, after all, mo dhuin beag," she gritted and tried to breathe through it in the technique advised by the midwife she intended to use, although a little break in her normally stalwart manner showed. "God in heaven! That was something now!"_

 _"I'd hardly think it's going to be a little one," Ruthann chided as she was also familiar with the Irish speak and eyed her friend's rather expansive baby belly before pausing in the hallway to kneel next to the chair. "Especially since you've already gone over your time. Now, my Gerald was only seven pounds, and I'm sure I would not have wished to be awake for that. It's not too late to change your mind; the other Labor and Delivery ward is just down that hall," she indicated and then sighed when Betty shook her head with an adamant no in response. Although they'd vowed to keep Peter's memories hidden in the past, the Reagan family matriarch had, in fact, confided some of the details to this friendly, sympathetic woman in a moment of weakness not long ago, and Ruthann was becoming concerned with the level of emotion she could see welling up._

 _"Do you want me to call for Henry?" she asked gently._

 _"Not 'til we know t'is time for sure," Betty answered finally as the pain receded as she gripped Ruthann's hand. "Last time he nearly drove the Studebaker off the road on the way here with me, and he'll do nothing but worry then. We could be about this 'til tomorrow. I do not wish for him to fall on the wrong side of the Lieutenant again if it is false."_

 _"Okay, well, how about we make that decision after Nurse Crawford or the doctor has a look at you?" Ruthann conceded as she stood up once more and started again at a determined pace towards the new and somewhat controversial midwifery obstetrical wing which was unassuming and rather plain in character. "Elizabeth Reagan," she announced at the desk while glancing down at Betty. "She has an appointment, but we believe she's in labor now."_

 _"Again, Mrs. Reagan?" the receptionist chided with an easy smile anticipating another false alarm after the two of the previous week before jumping to her feet to look over the counter when they heard an audible gasp and a mild curse from the prospective patient. "Then again, maybe not," she admitted as the growing puddle on the floor indicated it was indeed showtime._

 _"Your water has broken," she stated the obvious._

 _"I am aware," Betty huffed back with a nervous glance up at Ruthann as another contraction started just minutes after the last one subsided. "I think I'll be needing my husband now."_

 _###_

 _"Maybe we should stop at Salducci's for a slice or two before we head up to Flatbush to squeeze that lowlife Ronny Baker. Hate to hit one of those guys on an empty stomach," Detective Michael "Mickey" McLaughlin offered as he glanced over at his quiet partner in the passenger seat of the unmarked car they had been assigned that day. A strapping six-foot-two mountain of a man with a matching appetite and bright orange-toned hair, he paid no mind to the slightly derogatory nature of his Irish nickname and was in stark contrast to the more vertically unassuming Henry Reagan who now shared the ride but had on more than one occasion proven himself to be a force in the field with quick wits and a daring style of his own. After a few months together, McLaughlin held no concerns about having been assigned suitable backup in this, his second year as a third-grade detective at the Brooklyn 1-9 precinct._

 _"This thing is a piece of crap, oughta be retired like old man Branson," he noted while pointing to some of the loose trim pieces that were sticking up off the dash and the barely discernible garbled gibberish emanating from the malfunctioning car radio. "You game for an early lunch first, Reagan?" he repeated hopefully._

 _"Naw, let's just go up there quick and rattle him," Henry replied with another nervous glance at his watch that McLaughlin noted. "Maybe he'll give up something on that crew hitting all those bodegas. I'm still betting it's his cousin Ricky behind it. Ronny will roll over on him for half a pastrami sandwich. If we know where they're gonna be next, we can sit on it and catch them in the act."_

 _"You know she's fine, right?" McLaughlin assured after he radioed in their intent while his partner eyed his watch yet again and neither caught anything from a run of static transmission in return over the radio which included an urgent 10-1 request to call your command order directed to Detective Reagan. "I'm not making heads or tails of this," the other man sighed while fumbling with the dials before giving up once he had failed to gain any clarity. "We'll give the hospital and precinct a call from a landline once we get up to Flatbush," he added as he guided the car onto the main throughway and stepped on the gas. "Ruthie's got her covered in the meantime."_

 _"Yeah, but this baby's gotta come soon," Henry worried. "Poor Betty can't get much bigger. She was nowhere near this size last time. She can't even get in and out of the car by herself."_

 _"Well, you said yourself she didn't feel like anything would happen this morning before they left," his partner added in sympathy as he and his wife were the only two outsiders besides Betty's medical team and Father Campion that the Reagans had confided in while here in Brooklyn, and they were sworn to secrecy regarding Peter's loss. "My wife was in labor with Gerald for nearly twenty hours," he reasoned. "Even if she starts now, you've got plenty of time once we clock off and we're not even on the board to catch cases this weekend."_

 _"You're probably right, last time took more than eighteen," Henry offered as he settled back in his seat, content to relax a notch with that knowledge and an assumption that everything would run in the same fashion this time—a notion that could not be further from the truth. "I'll just ring the hospital and check in with that Crawford woman to make sure the appointment went okay. It's only twenty minutes up to Flatbush, what could happen 'til then?"_

 _###_

 _"Merciful heavens!" Betty's gasped as she lay back on the bed just as an intense contraction hit on the back of another while the attending midwife students quickly set about preparing her for the obviously impending birth. "There's something wrong, isn't there?" she implored as her now-trusted friend quickly entered the room before drawing on a clean smock. "Tell me, Mary! 'Tis happening too fast! Please, I cannot face it alone! Ruthann has not even yet found Henry!"_

 _"It is happening fast," Mary Crawford contended while offering her trademark air of confidence before pausing to check both Betty and the baby's position. "But you are not alone, and that doesn't mean anything is wrong... just that it was a very good thing that you were already on your way here this morning or you might have delivered alone at home or in the cab on the side of the road. Come now, as a nurse yourself you've seen women brought to the hospital in rapid labor before. That's what this is," she assured. "The pain is intense because your cervix is opening up very quickly, and once it is complete, you will feel the need to bear down almost immediately. The baby is large, but down and in a good position. I must thank you, Betty… these girls have studied this in theory, but have yet to gain practical experience," she added with a nod to the two attending nurses who were part of the first certified midwife class of its kind in the nation. "Now breathe as we discussed, it will help your body cope with the pain."_

 _"Do not thank me… 'tis not me proudest moment!" Betty panted as she tried and failed at that direction. "I fear to be too weak for this!"_

 _"You are not, my friend," Mary insisted as she readied her supplies for what was shaping up to be one of the fastest rounds of labor she had ever been present for herself. "And I promise you the instant your newborn arrives and is put in your arms, all this pain will fade away from your mind as if it never happened, alright? You're already crowning; the baby is almost here. You have all you need within you to do this. Now, ready yourself to push."_

 _"I have everything but me Henry," Betty cried as she prepared to bear down through the next contraction. "Where is he?!"_

 _###_

"OH NO, POP! How could you?" Eddie lamented in great disappointment and broke in at that point of the story while rocking away in the chair and holding a covered and nursing Joey in her arms as she empathized with what Betty was going through alone given her own recent experience.

"Please don't tell me you weren't there with her! She had to do it all by herself? You missed it?"

"I did," Henry admitted a bit sheepishly. "Like I told you, Francis came so fast once he made up his mind that it was all over by the time Mickey and I got up to Flatbush and were flagged down. Lieutenant Branson radioed over to the 7-1 and ordered a squad car to find us and then escort me to Columbia with lights and sirens. I got there just in time to pass out the cigars," he laughed. "And at that point, I owed 'em to two precincts."

"Aw, Jamie would have never forgiven himself! We were so afraid he was going to miss everything, and I couldn't have done it without him!"

"Now, yes you could have if you had to, sweetheart," Henry assured as he thought back to that day. "As that son of a duckie doctor told her, woman have been doing it for thousands of years, and Mary Crawford was right, Betty had everything within her that she needed at that moment. She hadn't been able to do anything for Peter except to comfort him when he left this world… but for Francis, it was her Irish grit, determination, and love that brought him in…"

 _###_

 _"Henry Reagan, where have you been?! I've been calling around for nearly two hours!" Ruthann scolded as the two men rushed in the door. "And you, Michael Fitzgerald McLaughlin!" she smacked her husband on the arm with a force that belied her small frame and backed him up against the wall like he was a two-bit perp. "What were you thinking by taking him out in a car like that across the city today of all days? Have you no sense in any of your bones? Was it not just three months ago that we went through this ourselves? If you'd be my husband pulling this business of wandering around out of touch when Gerald came, I'd not let you back in the house for a month!"_

 _"Aw, Ruthie," her big husband folded like a little boy as he hung his head and conceded. "You're right; I guess I just wasn't thinkin'."_

 _"How is she, please?!" Henry finally broke in as his voice climbed in frustration when he couldn't stand it anymore. "Where's my wife? Where's Betty?"_

 _"What you should be asking… more quietly, of course," Mary Crawford interjected with emphasis and a soft, satisfied smile filtering through as she came out in the hall after hearing the commotion. "Is how my wife and baby are doing?" she scolded gently before responding to that hanging question herself. "And the answer is just fine for both. Congratulations are in order, Mr. Reagan… you have a strapping, strong son and one tired, but brave and determined momma in there."_

 _"A boy? It's a boy?" Henry gasped in relief as he paused for a second to close his eyes and thank the heavens for answering his prayers with a healthy baby and for keeping his greatest love safe. "Mickey, it's a boy! We have a boy!" he announced excitedly as if no one else heard the news while he turned around to receive a clap on the shoulder and a rough handshake from his partner and hug from Ruthann. "Can we see him? Will you bring him out?" he asked as he swung back to address Mary once again, assuming that like before he would be kept from his wife while she recovered from the ordeal._

 _"I will not," Mary informed him as he looked back at her with momentary surprise. "Here it is not like before where the baby is taken directly to the nursery to be cared for by strangers. This is the time for a mum and her child to bond to one another. If you promise to be respectful, you will be welcomed back to meet your son in person," she offered and pushed the door behind her open. Although nervous, Henry did not need another invitation or waste an added second before darting inside. "Third room down the hall on the right," she called after him._

 _"Betty?" Henry whispered with apprehension from the doorway as he glanced inside to find his wife sitting up and cradling their newborn against her chest, pausing with awe as he witnessed such a profound moment. "Sweetheart?"_

 _"Don't just stand back there like yer afraid, come and see 'im," she answered softly as she looked up with her eyes shining as her husband quickly made his way over to the bedside. "He's a big, strong lad, isn't he?" she assured with great pride and relief evident. "Already done takin' 'is milk for the first time and nearly half yer size."_

 _"Oh, my… he really is," Henry laughed as laid eyes and hands on his son for the first time with a kiss as the not-so-little one paused and regarded his father with bright eyes from under a spattering of thick, dark hair. "I see you there…" he trailed off somewhat at a loss as to how to address the baby considering his wife had been far too adamant about not tempting fate to discuss a name before. "He's a fine-looking boy, Betty. And you, my love… you're doing okay too?"_

 _"I am now," she admitted and allowed her head to rest against his shoulder as he wrapped his arm around her. "A bit sore, but that's no matter," she assured. "He was determined to come on 'is own terms. You were right before, 'tis what was needed. I feel in my heart that our Peter Christopher brought us to this place when it was time and was watching over to keep us all safe," she teared up. "He would have been so proud to meet his brother today."_

 _"Yes... yes, he would have," Henry agreed with a misty-eyed nod and another hug and kiss for her. "He would have been happy for you and proud of his mother too, and so am I… Betty, I love you so much, sweetheart, and I'm so sorry I didn't stay with you today."_

 _"'Tis no matter," she replied softly again with another admiring look down towards the baby. "Only that yer here with us now and you'll be the father to spoil this child with his own swing in the backyard of our new house."_

 _"Oh, there's a spot for a nice one in that huge oak, but this yard is so much bigger than the old one," Henry teased softly as he allowed himself to think of all the things in the past that had been tucked away with another son lost. "There's room for a sandbox and a place to ride a bike and play baseball…"_

 _"Not without puttin' one of 'em through me kitchen," Betty warned as she detested that particular sport with great passion and thought about the beautiful floral stained-glass transom over the sink that had drawn her in with its warmth and decorated the space to this day… now admired and cherished by a granddaughter-in-law she would never have the opportunity to meet in person. "Remember, I do love me windows," she tutted._

 _"Well, I'll be sure to tell… him... to be careful of his mother's windows then or we'll both be sleeping out in the doghouse," Henry laughed. "But, Betty, he needs a name. Have you given it any thought?"_

 _"I 'ave," she admitted softly. "I prayed on it with Father Campion all these months when he helped me to see it was possible to love another as we did Peter… that this child was truly a deserved blessing to be welcomed as such into our new home, a place we came to find ourselves again... Francis Xavier," she whispered in a grand reveal as she looked lovingly down at him. "After a wonderful Jesuit saint who was full of good works as I pray he will be. I knew t'was a sign the minute Father described the meaning behind the second name… Etxeberria… 'the new house' is what it stands for," she explained._

 _"Francis Xavier Reagan," Henry nodded in agreement as a big smile of joy blanketed his face. "It's a fine name for our son, Betty. Welcome to the world, Francis."_

 _###_

"Oh, my gosh that's just about the most beautiful baby story I've ever heard…" Eddie blubbered as those surging maternal hormones got the best of her and it took a minute to compose herself once more. "But wait! Doesn't Frank hate his middle name?" she demanded before sniffing and wiping the tears from her eyes with another tissue as she offered a hug for her own sleeping little Reagan bean and glanced up at the beautiful floral stained-glass window transom that adorned her kitchen and held new meaning now. "Maybe no baseball in the backyard for you either, munchie… Grandmamma Betty wouldn't approve, and remember I do love me windows," she murmured to him in the Irish way under her breath before continuing. "Jamie says his Dad's even embarrassed to show his driver's license to anyone. How could he be that way when his mother picked it out with such love?"

"Well, don't forget until last year Francis never knew the whole story behind it or why we moved here," Henry explained. "So he just assumed all along Betty named him that because she intended for him to become a priest, and after thirteen years of Catholic school with strict-minded Jesuits for teachers, that was the last thing my stubborn-minded, thick-headed Irish son wanted, especially after he met his own Mary and had eyes on other things… not to mention the fact he would have been terrible at sitting in a little box trying to keep his mouth shut while listening to everyone else tell him what they were doing wrong."

"Wow, I could see that," Eddie agreed as she thought about how intimidating her six-foot-four father-in-law could be on occasion when his temper was raised at anything he viewed as an injustice. "Everyone would have been afraid to come to confession," she laughed.

"Right, and that's because Francis was born to be a cop and sit in a different box just like me and the three boys that came from him. After his birth, it was just easier for Betty to go on with what happened in the past still hidden away. She said it was because she didn't want him to grow up wondering about a brother he never knew, but that wasn't the truth, and I realized it although she would never admit it to her dying day. Even though Francis was in some ways the opposite of Peter… always bigger and stronger than the other kids his age… she still worried over him constantly because in the back of her mind she was afraid he had some hidden frailty that would take him away from us. I'll never forget the night we thought our worst nightmare had come true again though. He was about eighteen months, the same age as Peter when…"

* * *

 _Next up, we continue our stroll through the early years of Francis Xavier Reagan's life to see how his parents coped—or maybe didn't—when he presented them with an all too familiar looking medical crisis of his own._


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

 _"NO! OH, NOOO! PLEASE DEAR GOD IN HEAVEN! HENRY! COME HERE AND HELP ME!"_

 _Betty's utterly hysterical screams from down the hall ripped Henry Reagan right out of his restless sleep as his bare feet hit the ground running almost before his brain registered what was happening just before three o'clock one morning late in June._

 _"T'IS FRANCIS! HE'S NOT WAKING! MY BABY'S NOT WAKING!"_

 _A near-epidemic of bacterial meningitis had swept through the Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn in recent weeks leaving three dead toddlers in its wake and had pressed Betty into a state of hyper vigilance which included near constant wellness checks of their now eighteen-month-old son throughout all hours of the day and night. The fact that the baby had been cranky and uninterested in dinner that evening had her upping the ante and sequestering herself on the chair in his room to watch over him like a hawk as he slept._

 _"Betty! Sweetheart? WHAT IS IT?!" Henry stuttered as he rounded the corner and rushed into the room only to find his wife in a frantic state over their son, stripping the flushed, unresponsive boy of his light sleeper before pressing the bulb of a waiting thermometer up against his skin with one hand even as she was pouring water into a basin next to the crib to soak some towels in an attempt to cool him._

 _"I fell asleep for no more than an hour, and now he's… he's burning up and not moving!" she informed him, and one look at Frank's floppy neck and arms as she turned him was enough to have Henry instantly turning heel and scrambling down the steps to call for an ambulance while listening to her cries behind him as they both flashed back to that tragic night when Peter had presented with nearly these identical symptoms at the same age… surely not, it couldn't be._

 _"Please, Henry! HENRY! NO! NO! NO! It can't be happening again!"_

 _"Yes, Detective Reagan… 801 Driftwood Way… I NEED A BUS HERE, NOW! It's my son! He's a year-and-a-half old..."_

 _"It's 105! HENRY, HE'S SEIZING!"_

 _"Dear, God! My wife's a nurse, and she says he's having a seizure!"_

###

"Oh no, Pop!… You're not telling her that awful story about the time when you and Grandma Betty thought Frank had meningitis, are you?" Linda asked and immediately reached for Joey upon walking into the living room after Henry let them in, gratefully lifting the sleeping baby out of Eddie's arms. Danny had known what his wife desperately needed on instinct and suggested stopping by with his grandfather's favorite soup and sandwiches from the local deli as an excuse for that as well as to check on him after they finished up their rescheduled meeting with the lawyer and Marcus over the adoption-now-turned-guardianship agreement. "Why would you want to scare her like that?" she asked dejectedly as she sat down and automatically rocked and cradled the little boy carefully, needing to ground herself with his sweet presence after the stress of the morning.

"He's not… scaring me that is," Eddie assured as she cocked an eyebrow at Linda's distressed state just as there was another knock on the front door and her brother-in-law opened it behind him to find that Erin and Nicki had the same idea and arrived carrying multiple bags of their own filled with enough health-minded freshly made, prepackaged meals for several days' worth of lunches and dinners.

"I guess all great minds think alike," Erin smirked as she spotted her older brother bearing nearly identical gifts on an obviously similar mission.

"We were just in the neighborhood," they both added at the same time and laughed it off. After the scare of Henry's collapse and subsequent pacemaker procedure, there was no way any of them would have gone another day without seeing him with their own eyes to make sure their patriarch was recovering well.

"Eh, come on now," Henry griped, not buying into that excuse as he suddenly found himself the object of unwanted attention from a room full of Reagans once more. "Don't you people all have jobs to go to? At least Jamie and Eva are smart enough to be working today!"

"Oh, Pop… give it a rest. Linda and I were already over this way at the lawyer's, and we were both raised well enough to stop by and make sure you're still kicking, you ornery SO… D," Danny chided in the currently accepted g-rated Reagan fashion as he put the food down on the counter.

"And I'm basically on leave since all of my cases have been tabled while the DA's office is under investigation," Erin admitted as a bit of worry broke through and she wished now that her father was around to steady her. "I could have a lot more free time on my hands soon if this doesn't work out in my favor," she added with a nervous sigh.

"Well, I don't need all this fussing, and I'm perfectly capable of doing the cooking from here on out!" Henry retorted. "Eddie and I were just sitting here talking while Joseph and Kaylin were both still napping."

"Good, then keep going so we're not interrupting anything," Erin ordered as she made her way into the room and gave her gruff grandfather a hug and kiss on the cheek, anyway. "We all love your stories about when men were men and cops got comped for everything. What were you talking about?"

"That time when Pop pulled his service revolver on the ambulance crew," Linda informed them snidely without looking up.

"YOU DID WHAT?!" Eddie gasped as she whirled around to stare at Henry. "Tell me she's making that up!"

"Oh, no, you haven't heard this one before? It's a Henry Reagan classic," Nicki interjected as she had likewise listened to the tale several times at dinner over the years. "He didn't like the hospital they were going to take Grandpa to so Pops got all gangsta on the EMT's ahhh little duckies..." she explained and trailed off just as a familiar little face appeared on the landing upstairs.

"Nicki!" Kaylin cried happily when she spotted her favorite cousin from the top of the steps, still dressed in her jammies after sleeping in for the morning. "You 'ere to see me?!"

"I sure am, peanut! Let me come up and help you get dressed while Pop Pop finishes telling everyone all about when he was a bad boy," Nicki offered with a grin as she hurried upstairs to clear the room so the story could go on uncensored.

"Your gun, Pop?" Eddie prodded with her hands on her hips as soon as the door closed upstairs. "Seriously? Betty was panicking while Frank was having a seizure and you were out threatening the ambulance crew with a loaded weapon?"

"I never said it was loaded, and they wanted to take him to St. Victor's, which at that time was a butcher shop," he offered adamantly in his defense. "I insisted on Methodist. The guy says, 'I'm not authorized to go there.' Now, Francis is burning up, convulsing in my arms. I take out my piece, and I say, 'Now you're authorized.'" he chuckled before concluding solemnly. "We thought we were going to lose another son that night. It turned out he didn't have meningitis, after all, thank God. The pediatrician at _Methodist,"_ he emphasized, "took one look at Francis and said it was some kind of febrile seizure from his temperature shooting up too fast from a regular virus or cold. It stopped on the way to the hospital, and he was completely back to normal within the hour. Who knows what those quacks at St. Vic's would have done to him if we had gone there? We brought him home in the morning happy as a clam sucking on a popsicle for a sore throat, and Betty was down on her knees at church for a week straight giving thanks for a miracle."

"Wow, guess we all owe you one then," Eddie smirked as she relaxed back in the chair and glanced over at her baby in Linda's arms wondering just how far her husband would go if they were ever faced with such a situation. "You hear that Joey? Your great-grandpa is in charge if we ever get in that kind of trouble."

"You better believe I'd do it again for any of you or my gg's if I had to," Henry asserted before looking over at Linda and Danny himself. "So? What went on in this meeting with Marcus?" he demanded with his protective ire triggered as he knew the couple was having issues over the pending adoption agreement as the young man was waffling on his desired role now that the birth was imminent. "Are we going to have another little one around here for me to bounce on my knee, or do I need to go home and strap on my holster before I find him and have a talk? What about the mother? Is she having second thoughts too?"

"Pop, it's complicated," Danny revealed with a sad look over at his wife who had been taking the whole disappointing situation badly. "But, no, it's not the mom. This girl, Lise Martinez, is so gung-ho about being a cop and starting the next academy class that she's already signed over all of her rights to Marcus. She's due next week but wants nothing to do with him anymore because of his flip-flopping, so she's keeping him away, even from the birth, and says as soon as she has the baby she's done… that she'll give the lawyer a call to tell him where and when he can pick it up and won't even tell him if it's a girl or a boy."

"Well, then what's the problem?" Erin puzzled. "I thought the rest was settled; you two were going to do an open adoption with Marcus so that he could still be in the baby's life. He's way too immature to take care of a child on his own, so this sounds like a win-win to me."

"It was until the adoption lawyer brought out some kind of effing… ahem, _darn_ post-adoption contact form," Danny gritted and rolled his eyes at his frustration at being caught in a legal loop.

"Oh, a PACA," Erin nodded. "I don't do family law, but even I know that's standard these days. It's a legally binding and enforceable contract so birth parents can be assured their wishes are carried out. Still, don't see the problem," she prompted.

"Marcus got cold feet once our lawyer started spelling out visitation guidelines and things like that," Linda revealed while her eyes filled and ran over with frustrated tears as yet another roadblock had been apparently slammed down in her overwhelming desire to have another child of their own to love and raise. "I mean it was just simple stuff like having him call before coming over. He thought he was going to be able to waltz in and out of our house whenever he felt like it and then all of a sudden it hit him that the baby was going to have our last name and call Danny its daddy instead. Now he says he has to think about it," she offered with a small sob and buried her face in Joey's blanket to hide her despair.

"Yeah, that was the kicker," her husband agreed as he sighed and sank down heavily on the couch after putting his feet up on the coffee table. "Damn screwed-up kid," he offered with a little curse under his breath. "Thought after everything I did for him all these years… so we're not exactly sure what's happening now," he admitted and trailed off while acknowledging the conversation couldn't end there. "He knows he's not capable of doing this on his own, but unless he changes his mind the only other option on the table is for him to keep his quote-unquote "parental rights" and grant us legal guardianship. There's all kinds of hoops we'd have to jump through to file for that, but since he'll support it, that would probably work. Then I guess we would be Aunt Linda and Uncle Danny instead of mommy and daddy."

"OH, NO! Oh, guys, I'm so sorry!" Eddie deflated at the news as she had been championing Linda's quest for another round of motherhood ever since the two had struck up a deeper friendship after the events of the winter when Jamie was recovering, and she was facing her own complicated pregnancy. "Did you talk to your brother? What does he think? That seems pretty dicey considering who we're dealing with here. What if Marcus decides to flip on you again? Would you really go through with that?"

"It's more like how we could not at this point?" Linda added softly with bitter disappointment as she finally looked up from her nephew who was now awake and regarding her seriously with Jamie's trademarked expression already evident. "An innocent baby just like this one is coming into this world soon one way or another with a mother that doesn't want it and Marcus Beale for a father. If we walk away completely, you know who's going to suffer in this. I can't do that… no matter how scary it is or how much it hurts right now. I couldn't sleep at night if I did."

"That's because you're such a good person," Eddie huffed with further indignant contempt for Marcus as she sat back and considered all the little and big sacrifices that arrangement entailed. "So that means you won't be able to be there for the birth or even name the baby?" she questioned as she considered what a special time that was between her and Jamie when their son first graced the world with his big cries and a little surprise. "That stinks too."

"Yup," Danny conceded. "Besides, if it's a boy he's apparently already got a name… James Marcus Beale," he revealed.

"Oh, great," Erin snorted. "So, then we'll have a Jimmy and a Jamie, or a James and a Jamison, plus two Jack-Johns and two Joeys and or Josephs. Poor Dad and Pop will have to up the number of crosswords they do every day for the rest of their lives just to stay sharp enough keep all that straight. What about a girl?"

"No name for a girl yet, Marcus is set on it being a son," Linda revealed in defeat with a sad frown and a heavy heart as she decided to move the conversation along to something else related, but less upsetting for now and looked over at Henry. "Did you or Grandma Betty ever want another after Frank?"

"Oh, I did," he admitted honestly. "I wanted one for each room upstairs… a girl would have been nice, too, but Betty wasn't sure she could go through it again and said we would leave it up to God. We talked about once in a while, and there were a few more times that things happened here in front of the fireplace if you catch my drift," he added as Eddie was unable to suppress a giggle. "But nothing ever came of it again. Maybe it was something like what Mary had after Joe was born… not being able to carry another until she got all that help when Jamie came to be. We never looked into it, so we never knew. In the end, she was satisfied with raising Francis, being active in the church with the Sunday school program and volunteering so much of her time fundraising for the hospital's pediatric cancer center. It gave her great joy to see that more than 90 percent of the ALL kids were able to get into remission by the time she was done."

"Plus, by then she had all us grandkids and great-grandkids to raise," Erin reminded. "Mom leaned on her all those years with three little ones so close in age and Dad always being busy at work, and then of course when Jamie came along behind she just spoiled him rotten."

"Mary and Betty did have a special relationship," Henry recalled as he thought back to how close the two women had become over the years. "She was the daughter we never had ourselves. Of course, that wasn't always the case. I remember when Francis first brought her around. No one and I mean _no one_ other than Mother Theresa herself could have possibly been good enough for Betty Reagan's boy…"

* * *

 _So, what does everyone think of this Marcus situation? Our older lovebirds' storyline will continue as they cope with some of the serious challenges this arrangement might bring in the next full installment which will be the first in Series III and is tentatively titled "This Meeting Never Happened." We've got a possible name for a boy, any suggestions in case it's a girl? As I'm writing this, I honestly haven't decided which way it will go. Special thanks to BlueBlood82 for her help with deciphering the NY adoption laws and possible scenarios that might take._

 _Next, Jamie drops back in that evening with some news of his own and hears about a smitten young, handsome Frank Reagan who has a discussion with a close friend before he brings his true love home to meet his mother for the first time, but will he need that someone's help to talk Mary into coming back? **Spoiler: Tissue Alert**_


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"Hey, lambchop, what do you think about having a potluck picnic on the deck for Sunday dinner this week?" Eddie asked later that evening, searching for a safe topic of conversation when an oddly quiet and withdrawn Jamison Reagan joined her early for bed once more after putting Kaylin down. "Your dad's not coming in until late Saturday night, and no one's been at their house all week to do any shopping. We could make a red potato salad with steamed veggies and grill some steaks or chicken and burgers for the kids… have the others bring appetizers and dessert to keep it simple," she encouraged. "Everyone's had sort of a rough week around here, and it's supposed to be nice out, plus it's Father's Day… your first with munchie, and this year it also happens to fall on the anniversary of, you know… Peter," she trailed off with a frown at his continued distracted and downtrodden expression which she had not been able to break since he had returned home late that afternoon. "I think Pop would like to be here at our house instead for that, anyway. Erin and Nicki said they would pick him and Frank up in the morning to go to the old church in Woodlawn Heights for services and visit the cemetery. We could open up the box afterward… no one said anything to him yet, but Danny found it up in the cubby when he was here this afternoon," she added. "We should all be together for that."

"Sounds fine," Jamie agreed, seeming overly amicable but at the same time projecting a flat, emotionless, distracted tone which only could mean he had something pressing on his mind and it certainly wasn't the delayed state of their marital relations this time given the distance he was keeping from her. "I'll order the steaks from DeMarco's and pick them up Saturday."

"Okay, great…" Eddie finished and waited for a few more silent moments for him to come forward with whatever it was on his own before addressing the elephant in the room directly. "Now, what's going on with you? You've hardly said two words since coming home, and not even Kaylin or Joey could make you smile. What's stressing you out? I didn't ask in front of everyone else before because we had so much food that they all ended up staying for dinner, and then when Mom came home she was all excited over telling us about the apartment. Did something happen with that FBI op you're working on? I mean I know you can't tell me much about it, but Jamie, it's only your first week on the job… you can't be letting it get to you already."

"No," he answered quietly and finally moved over to bury his head in the pillow next to her side to be close and draw strength for what needed to be said. "It's not that… I just couldn't… not in front of everyone else downstairs, especially Danny…" he trailed off choking on the lump in his throat.

"What is it?" she prodded, now fearing the answer.

"Rick called," he finally whispered and came clean as her heart instantly fell to the bottom of her toes at that small revelation, knowing that there was only one piece of news from his now-retired rescue buddy and Kenzie's new life out in Arizona that would have had this effect on him… Commander Joel Rigsby was gone, the bone cancer that had been relentlessly spreading throughout his body had finally claimed him after a valiant fight.

"Oh, no… Jamie! Oh, God! Already? But I thought he was doing so much better? He even got released from that clinic upstate and followed Kenzie out to Arizona a few weeks ago, and weren't they trying something new? I'm so sorry! When? Why didn't you say something before instead of holding it in all that time? I could have sent them home; everyone would have understood!"

"Not yet, but soon," he revealed before the facade cracked and pain in his heart poured out in tears as the much-needed release came as she held him close with her arms wrapped around his shaking body for a long while before any other words were uttered as they both cried in private over the imminent loss of a great man and close friend while their little boy slept nearby. "They found another tumor on his last scan. He was doing better, but it spread again to his spine this time; it's affecting everything else, and he's in terrible pain now… that's why he left the clinic. I guess he wanted to go off on his own away from everyone, but Kenzie talked him into coming there. Rick said she's trying to keep him comfortable in hospice, but it won't be long… another day or two at the most. Rigs gave orders though that no one else is allowed to come see him, not even Quincy. He doesn't want to be remembered like that. God, Ed! It's not right for him to be alone! I owe him so much!"

"I know you do… I know… we both do," Eddie consoled as her voice broke while she leaned over and kissed the top of his head and sought to come up with anything that might comfort him before recalling another one of those stories that had been passed down by Henry earlier in the day. "He's not alone though, Kenzie's with him, right? That's what he wanted. People like Rigs don't come into our lives very often, do they? He brought you back to us, Jamie. Without him, we would have lost you that night on the hill, so I owe him everything too."

"You never gave up on me, Ed… you brought me home."

"You never gave up on yourself... what he taught you kept you alive," she countered. "But for him, I would have figured it out way too late and then it wouldn't have mattered, right? Did you know your Dad had someone just like that too when he was growing up? He never talks about him anymore, but now we know how he met your mother and where Danny got his middle name from. Pop told us all about it this afternoon..."

###

 _"So, Reagan, are we on for tomorrow? C'mon! I need you to bring the car and Lizzie won't go out with me unless I find a date for some cousin of hers that lives up in Brooklyn Heights. It's a chick flick the last Friday night the drive in on Bayside is open this season for crying out loud, so if she's good looking you two can make out in the back seat, and if she's not, no one will even see you there together! This is perfect! Stop being such a goody-two-shoes and just say yes once for Christ's sake!" seventeen-year-old Fitzgerald "Gerry" McLaughlin hissed as he slammed Frank's locker closed for emphasis, only to reveal a frowning Brother Benedict poking his head out of the math classroom doorway on the other side of the hall._

 _"Sorry, sir," Gerry offered with a pained look on his face as the older man tutted is displeasure at hearing any number of the Commandments broken so vocally on his watch. "I'll stop at confession before Sunday morning Mass," he placated with his head bowed down after adding another apology before they were left alone once more._

 _"Okay, so now you really owe me! Father Campion is going to give me at least a thousand acts of contrition when he hears about this, but it'll be worth it!" he continued to plead. "I've been your best friend since we were in diapers together, so trust me when I say you need to cut loose a little and have some fun!"_

 _"Ger, I am not going out with one of Lizzie Kepner's cousins from Brooklyn Heights on a blind date, just so I can make it to second base in the back of my parents' Studebaker," Frank vowed as he slipped his jacket on and put a bag over his shoulder. "It's our senior year, and that means winter dances are coming up at the other schools, plus proms in the spring and then graduation. You go off giving the wrong idea to the wrong girl right now, and it won't just be the movies for long."_

 _"Oh, so what? You're gonna stay celibate until the end of next semester just because we go to the lonely boy's only club high school? C'mon! You're getting a real rep here, Saint Francis Xavier… the momma's boy most likely to enter the priesthood on his way out the door!"_

 _"Hey, knock that off! I hate when you call me that! And unless they issue fatigues, boots and a rifle at the Seminary, you know that's not gonna happen," Frank reminded as the pair headed out the front entry for a walk to the parking lot after classes ended for the day. "We both agreed to enlist in the Marines after graduation, so we don't get drafted, anyway, and then split apart."_

 _"That doesn't mean that we can't have any fun for the next six months, does it? And with your father's connections in the NYPD, I don't see why you want to do that, anyway. I mean he's gotta have enough strings to pull by now as Chief of D's that can get you a National Guard post or into some cushy college gig instead of going straight to 'Nam, right? If my dad had that I sure as hell wouldn't be looking at signing up early just so I can have a say in what kind of uniform they bury me in!"_

 _"Gerry, please don't say stuff like that! Besides, I'm gonna have your back… we'll be fine over there. We'll serve our time and do the right thing, and by the way you know damn well Pop would never pull a hook like that for me," Frank replied adamantly as it was against all of his family principles of honor and duty to look for a way out. "He was a Marine too, 1st Division, Inchon, Korea," he reminded with obvious pride. "Ooh-rah!"_

 _"Yeah, well, say what you want. My old man took a bullet in his hip for yours that day in the bank, and look where that's gotten him," Gerry bitterly recalled the time that his father, Henry's long-time partner and best friend, Mickey McLaughlin, had been seriously wounded in the line of duty. "The NYPD sure had his back, didn't they? Forced retirement on disability two years short of his twenty and now he's working some part-time crummy security job on Wilshire watching for shoplifters all day long just to make ends meet and keep me in this stupid school because it's what my mom wanted before she died. I can't wait to get out on my own. I know you're planning on going to the academy as soon as your tour is up, but not me... I'm just gonna keep my head down and do my year without putting my ass on the line for anyone; then when we're back, I swear I'm gonna take all my combat pay and put it down on one of those sharp brand-new SS Chevelles, hit the road and never look back."_

###

"Ed, c'mon, that guy doesn't sound anything like Rigs, more like the opposite, and really? You had to leave me with the picture of my folks making out in the back of a steamed-up Studebaker on their first date?" Jamie moaned as he rolled over, heavy sadness still etched over every aspect of his face even though enough had been released for him to speak again.

"Don't judge Gerry just yet; you haven't heard the whole story."

"At least I know where the idea for the car came from though," he reasoned and considered the fact that very same model Chevelle now sat untouched under a cover in his father's garage… the one that had been passed down from Frank to Joe and into his very own hands, only to be sold as scrap to a madman and then returned as some type of token after an evil plot to ruin all their lives had failed… to a point. Jamie had yet to find the courage to even look at it again considering what it had taken from him in terms of his injuries, profession, and spirit.

"Never seemed like something my dad would have bought for himself in the first place, anyway."

"Well, for starters, Mary wasn't his date that night, so you can just wipe that nasty image right out of your dirty little mind, Jamison Reagan," Eddie revealed as she continued to rub small circles on his chest to soothe him. "Turns out they had known each other since kindergarten, but then I guess Frank got moved into the all-boys Jesuit school and even though he had always carried a torch for her, he never said anything," she added with a poke in the ribs given the history of their own long-repressed feelings for one another. "So now we know where you got _that_ from too, don't we? Anyway, that night she happened to be working in the concession stand at the drive in making popcorn for a school fundraiser when he walked over there as an excuse to get away from the other girl and never went back... It was love at second sight," she laughed.

"Seriously? Dad always told us they met on a blind date," Jamie huffed with a little laugh as he managed to relax just a bit at the irony of his parent's now obvious inside joke. "Guess it was sort of the truth, anyway."

"Yeah, well, apparently Grandma Betty didn't take it that way. She spotted some lipstick smudges on the backseat of the car from Gerry and his date when Frank brought it home, so she assumed that it was your mother that put them there, and let's just say she didn't have a very high opinion of her when your dad decided to bring her over for Sunday dinner a few weeks later…"

###

 _"Now, Betty… you're going to have to simmer down before she gets here," Henry warned as he watched his wife flitting between the stove and the sink while she went about preparing Sunday dinner with what could only be described as a vengeance as the cleaver came down on the cutting board with resounding bangs as it chopped the excess fat off the roast before it was plated. "Francis said this Mary Margaret O'Donnell is a fine Catholic girl, and you had her in one of your Sunday school classes when they were six or seven."_

 _"Simmer down ye say, Henry Reagan?!" she demanded after setting her sights on quartering the poor, defenseless carrots and green beans before throwing them in the steamer. "Since when have you known yer boy to be ignoring his studies and mooning over a girl? One that obviously has forgotten the virtues she should have remembered from my teachings," she huffed while waving the knife in his direction. "More than two weeks now and he's still practically walking into things over her distraction! Getting into the backseat of my Studebaker the first time they meet again is not the sign of a lady!" she added with vile._

 _"Hasn't stopped you a time or two," Henry reminded impishly and then ducked as a heavy oven mitt flew at his head with deadly aim._

 _"I'll not be hearing you make light of this!" she warned._

 _"Oh, c'mon, dear... it's about time, isn't it?" he retorted as he stooped to pick the glove off the floor. "Your son is going to be a man soon, old enough to be on his own… a Marine at the end of this year," he added with instant regret as that had only become another bone of contention between them as the thought of sending off their only child to fight overseas terrified her anew._

 _"He's a good, responsible boy. Let him sow some wild oats now."_

 _"He's been off with other girls before this," she defended while pulling some of the good place settings out of the china cabinet and heading for the dining room to set the table. "That nicely mannered Leah O'Rourke has always turned his eye."_

 _"School dances and church socials," Henry tutted as he followed at a respectable distance behind her. "We were this age when we started dating, my love, and I knew right away you were the one for me… did some mooning myself," he reminded with a smile as he recalled the first time he had managed to forge enough courage to ask a fiery, red-headed young lady to just such an event. The daughter of a strict-minded Sunday School teacher and church deacon, Elizabeth Aoibhín_ _Maguire had widely been thought of as off-limits to even the bravest Irish boys in the Woodlawn Heights neighborhood where they grew up but had always caught a certain young Henry Reagan's eye, and he had never been one to bow down to a challenge even at that early age._

 _"You said yes when I asked for your company at the youth mixer the Catholic Charities sponsored that June. I'll remember that emerald green dress you wore for the rest of my days, Betty; I'd never seen someone so beautiful before," he tried to placate her. "You were the belle of the ball that night… every other lad was jealous… made my bones on the street and won a few pounds from those betting against me," he chuckled. "No one believed I was telling the truth when I said who I was bringing, and you even let me hold your hand once in front of them all… that was the start of us."_

 _"And me father met you on the porch with a loaded shotgun at his side lest you had the wrong intentions!" Betty returned with a frown, refusing to be distracted from the present matter._

 _"Well, I'm not going to open the door with my piece strapped on, at least not this time, if that's what you're expecting…" he trailed off with a glance out the front window. "And Francis just pulled up; they're here," he announced as he watched his well-dressed, but obviously nervous son hustle over to the other side of the car to open the door for his girl like a gentleman. "It even looks like she's brought dessert," he added while eyeing the cake server the pretty petite brunette with the easy smile was holding in her hands as she was helped out of her seat._

 _"Probably stopped off and bought something from the store shelf," Betty huffed with continued ire._

 _"Best behavior now, Elizabeth Aoibhín," he warned and slipped an arm around her waist for support as he opened the front door and they stepped out on the porch to greet their guest. "This could be your future daughter-in-law," he added under his breath, never imagining that statement to be so true and that this young lady now walking up to their house for the first time would eventually become like their own and take over for his wife as the Reagan family matriarch and mother of the next generation._

 _"Bite yer tongue, Henry Reagan," Betty countered in the present with equally disguised gritted teeth before managing to put on a well-rehearsed smile by the time the young couple approached. "Welcome, dear," she greeted Mary with her hand forward as Frank helped his new girlfriend up the steps. "I'm Mrs. Reagan. So nice to meet you."_

###

"And I thought I had a tough crowd the first time I came to Sunday dinner. I was so intimidated by your family that one sideways look from your mom or a Grandma Betty sitting across the table without you having my back probably would have had me running the other way too... I guess we're lucky someone finally managed to talk Frank into sticking up for Mary after he screwed up the first time," Eddie concluded softly before looking over and noticing that her husband had finally succumbed to his apparent grief-induced exhaustion and was breathing evenly in a sleep she knew would not continue to be peaceful for long given his penchant for nightmares during stressful times. "I'll tell you the rest tomorrow, lambchop," she promised with a soft kiss on his forehead after a reassuring glance over at their munchie as she curled up at Jamie's side and held him close, praying for him to receive strength for what was to come.

* * *

 _So sadly a few things from this installment will bridge into the final epilogue for "Resurgence" which will not only honor our soon-to-be fallen Commander Rigsby but heal a lingering rift and some unfinished business between our two brothers once and for all. For now, though, there's still quite a bit more to come in this story as Gerry's influence on Mary and Frank's early relationship is revealed, and a young Pfc. Reagan faces the ugly realities of war before returning home, changed in some ways forever._


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

"I'm really worried about him, Pop," Eddie admitted in the kitchen the following morning when the two were alone again after Jamie and Eva's Friday morning departures. "All this is dredging everything back up. He's been doing so well the last month or so since Joey came… his PT is really helping, I mean he barely needs his crutches anymore unless he overdoes it, and he's been okay about switching over to work at 1PP. I know he misses patrol, but he feels like he can make a difference here in the NYPD instead of with the FBI in Washington, so I think he'll eventually accept that. Last night though after telling me about Rigs he had nightmares again over and over… that he and Quincy were out in a little paddle boat alone in the middle of the ocean with a bunch of sharks circling. He was afraid, Pop… terrified. I could feel his heart pounding in his chest, and he was shaking," she revealed sadly. "I don't know how to help him. He's still holding back in front of Danny, and I've never really lost anyone so close to know how that feels or had anything happen to me like that unless you count that perp I shot in the quad," she frowned. "It's not the same."

"No, it isn't, sweetheart," Henry agreed. "What he went through that night on the hill and the months before that after he got hit by the car changes a person. I've seen it myself. Sometimes it takes years for it to come out, just look at Danny… that boy's still keeping something locked in too. Their father would understand after what happened to him in the war, maybe more than even Francis would admit to this day because he never talks about it either, but I think you should invite Quincy over for Sunday. He'll be able to help Jamie. Rigs put the two of them together for a reason… he wanted them to look out for one another when he was gone, and they're going to need to lean on each other to get through what comes next."

"That's a good idea," Eddie nodded. "I'll call Annabel right now. Quincy's probably a wreck too. At least he has her; they've really hit it off. I was trying to tell Jamie the story about Gerry and Frank, but I only got to the part where Mary came to dinner the first time. He doesn't know the rest."

"You mean about how Mary was put off at first? Because that girl was no fool… she could read my wife like an open book from the get go no matter how polite Betty was on the outside or how well she thought she was hiding her feelings. Mary figured if his mother held that opinion of her and Francis didn't stand up against it, well, then things would never work between them, so she called it off the first time. He was so miserable and broken-hearted after that even Betty had to admit she had been wrong. It took that McLaughlin boy to put them back together again though…"

###

 _"C'mon, ask her out again or I will."_

 _"Like she would go out with you, Gerry," came the expected frustrated, indignant huff by Frank Reagan followed by a defeated shoulder shrug before he slumped onto a bench near the path in the small park they were walking through at his friend's insistence the following Saturday. "I've tried calling all week; she won't even talk to me. She thinks I let my mom get the wrong idea about her, and then I didn't do enough to make it right."_

 _"Well, did you?"_

 _"What exactly was I supposed to say in front of her? No, Ma, this wasn't the girl I was kissing in the backseat of the car at the drive-in, that was Lizzie Kepner's easy cousin Patsy something-or-other from Brooklyn Heights who was looking to round second and get to third base on a blind date before I got out and took a walk. Mary Margaret was the second one I picked up that night... 'I'da had two frying pans flying at me head,'" he mocked in Betty's thick Gaelic accent. "I had no idea my mother knew about that or would get all judgmental at dinner. By the time I figured out what was going on and tried to explain it was all a mistake to Mary on the way home, she was so embarrassed my parents thought that about her, she cried and shut me down… hasn't said a word to me since."_

 _"And your mom?"_

 _"Hasn't stopped talking," Frank admitted with a crushed sigh and a heavy heart. "By the way, she knows it was you that set this all up, so be prepared to duck the next time you're over at the house."_

 _"Crap," Gerry mouthed as he collapsed against the backrest in an equally defeated manner and considered the formidable Irish woman with high moral standards that was one Betty Reagan. "Guess if my mom was still alive she'da been dragging me over by the ear to apologize… I gotta make this right," he decided. "I can't have my best friend be miserable and miss out on all those home cooked meals for the rest of my life."_

###

"So, he got them back together after that, right?" Eddie clarified. "I know you said yesterday that Frank and Mary dated before he left for the Marines, but I assumed it was more than those first few weeks."

"Oh, yes, if nothing else that McLaughlin boy was true to his word," Henry nodded. "Ruthann and Mickey always had their hands full with him, Mick more so after he got hurt because Ruthie had passed a few years before that from gallbladder surgery complications, but he was a good kid at heart even if it was rough around the edges. He pestered Mary for weeks after that telling her how broken up Francis was about the whole thing and finally got her to agree to go to the winter dance as a double date with him and another friend from her high school. When they came over to the house for pictures beforehand, Betty took her aside and apologized. She knew this girl had good character if she wasn't about to stand for having her reputation questioned, and we watched as the two of them got close over the next few months before the boys left for basic training after graduation. That was the last time we ever saw Gerry," he frowned at the memory. "Still owe that kid everything. If it hadn't been for him, none of us would be sitting here right now…"

###

 _"Reagan! McLaughlin! You two boys are on six!" Lieutenant Daniel Carpenter ordered as he began to reveal the details and set up his USMC recon patrol during a briefing for the next day's insertion. Frank paid sharp attention as there were literally hundreds of things to be covered for the nine-man team—who was PL, on point, in the body, and on tail, how many days, call signs, the departing and fallback LZ's, what the water situation was on the ground and how many canteens were required, who would carry the M-79… the list was endless. Six months into their year-long tour in Vietnam and the stress would start to hit at that point like a hammer—fear and worry about what was to come. This time they were going out for four nights into the dense jungle northwest of Cam Lo where things had been very active as of late. He could almost smell the anxiety rolling off his best friend in waves as they were abruptly dismissed and told to go ready their gear before the choppers came the next afternoon._

 _The evening remained quiet between the two men and was filled with packing, unpacking, and packing again. Cans of food were then organized and put into spare socks in their rucks to keep the noise down._

 _Dog tags were wrapped together with green tape also for that noise thing._

 _The stress became quite an issue at this point. Some good and some not-at-all good stress… the latter of which had started to break Gerry down as of late. Frank found his buddy isolated and alone later that night, sitting by a lantern, cross-legged on his bed while paging through the worn, now dog-eared copy of his mother's bible that he had brought with him._

 _"Thought you were done with that once we graduated."_

 _"Yeah, well… maybe I was wrong about that too," Gerry smirked sadly as he glanced up. "You know, Xavier, I'd give anything right now for Father Campion's thousand acts of contrition to make this all go away," he admitted before carefully closing the book and sliding it underneath his bedroll._

 _"At least we're not on point this time," Frank noted and tried to bolster his friend's confidence. "And yesterday was our six-month anniversary; we're over the hump."_

 _"We'll be doing a lot of humping the next four days with Grimshaw in charge," Gerry observed with a telling sigh as he lay back on the bunk and crossed his hands behind his head while staring up at the ceiling. "You get a letter today?" he asked with more than a mild jealous twinge in his voice._

 _"Yeah," Frank admitted as he pulled the envelope out of his shirt pocket and tapped it thoughtfully. Like clockwork, twice a week, he could always count on that now-familiar feminine handwriting to anchor him as a reminder of what he had to look forward to. Most nights, if not forced to succumb to total exhaustion, he would reread each one captured in his eidetic memory and smile as he lay in the darkness while thinking of his beautiful Mary Margaret waiting for him at home._

 _Gerry never had such a distraction unless you counted the companion pieces from Betty Reagan praying for their safe return and keeping them abreast of what was happening back in the city and the various cases her husband was working on as he cemented his position as a top-level chief in the NYPD. Those were always shared with the closest person to a brother Frank had ever known._

 _Six months' worth of a whirlwind courtship before they shipped out had been enough to convince him that he had indeed found his soulmate, and while his friend still professed a grand plan to plunk down all uncashed pay on a flashy sports car upon their return, he had already mentally allotted a good sum to a very special purchase he intended to make at Gillespie's Jewelry store the moment they were back in New York, with the rest to be used to start their married life together._

 _First, of course, was the matter at hand, and that meant surviving the next four days._

 _For two of the nine men boarding the pair of choppers the next afternoon and gazing down at the thick jungle carpet below as it whisked by in a blur underneath their feet, that was not going to be a reality, and had it not been for the heroics of one, it was likely at least three more names if not all would have been added to the list and eventually a solemn wall, including that of Francis X. Reagan._

 _The boy that had professed his resolve to keep his head down and not put his ass on the line for anyone had become the man who had done nothing of the sort when push came to shove._

 _Things had started quietly late in the afternoon as they always did. There had been no talking as they waited. Everyone was deep in their own thoughts until the birds landed and within minutes they were on their way._

 _At that point, the stress seemed to lift as the thinking about the what if's ceased and their minds switched over to a sort of autopilot. The choppers dropped in a dummy landing first to disguise their actual location before the patrol leader, CJ Grimshaw, offered those infamous words, "Lock and load, boys," and in the next instant they were dumped on the ground in the middle of a field of very high grass. Frank remembered the directions to exit and crawl towards the tree line in case they had been observed. He followed directly on Gerry's tail until the group reached cover and started off quickly once more after an initial headcount._

 _At first, they were purposefully sent off in the wrong direction from their intended route and traversed a steep hill with rucks and gear so heavy it nearly dragged them to their knees. Cursing their leader's direction under their breaths, the unit skirted sideways for a bit before going back down the slope and into the thickest patch of vegetation available... all in an effort to avoid the inevitable. Soon pops were heard in the distance before enemy shells covered the hillside they had just exited. The VC or NVA had indeed seen what direction they had taken initially and had decided to kill them up there._

 _Frank could have kissed the PL on the lips at that point for his good intuition and planning, but there was little time to think about that._

 _They had advanced only a few hundred more meters before being brought under intense enemy small-arms and automatic weapons fire. The platoon reacted quickly and got_ on line _as best they could in the thick terrain, returning fire almost immediately while their location was called in and air strikes were ordered. Frank and Gerry found themselves bunched together tightly behind the cover of a small berm alongside two other members of their squad only twenty or so meters away from enemy positions. As the firefight continued, several of the men to their left were wounded in the deadly assault, their cries of pain adding to the sensory assault on their bodies and minds as adrenaline surged and mixed solidly with fear. In that defining moment, Frank had pinpointed the exact position of the opposing muzzle fire and prepared to lift himself up above the safety of the mound to fix his own aim on it, willing to sacrifice himself for his team as he pulled back on the rifle's trigger to blanket the area and return the favor. Suddenly though, a grenade was lobbed into their midst and landed with a muted thud in the soft_ earth centered _directly between the four men before it rolled alongside Gerry's leg._

 _In a singular flash of time that was both brief and endless, his best friend's eyes locked on Frank's and exchanged a lifetime of memories... from their first early recollections of childhood play dates together on the swing in the backyard through kindergarten, years of football, little league, and high school graduation, the latter shared as a threesome with a very special young lady who would eventually become Mrs. Francis X. Reagan due in no small part to Gerry's efforts._

 _In that brief half-second, they expressed their love as blooded brothers while saying thank you and goodbye to one another in the same instant._

 _Without further hesitation, and with complete disregard for his own personal safety, Pfc. Fitzgerald McLaughlin bravely reached out and grasped the grenade, pulling it into his chest and curling around it as it went off. Although Frank and the two other Marines on either side of him received tour-ending shrapnel injuries from the device, the rest of the wounded soldiers, minus Grimshaw, their patrol leader who had been gut shot multiple times defending his men and would also eventually succumb en route, were all safely evacuated after air support arrived and annihilated the remaining enemy opposition in one strafing run. Gerry's body had absorbed the major force of the explosion, and in that singular heroic act saved not only his comrades but an entire future line of blue-blooded cops from Brooklyn._

 _The image that had been seared into Frank Reagan's brain at that moment, however, would take much longer to muffle and fade, and the broken spirit that returned home to Mary Margaret and Betty Reagan's waiting arms was a far cry from the one that had left._

 _###_

"Gerry was a hero," Eddie concluded softly as her blue eyes grew wide and filled.

"Yes, and a highly decorated one at that… they gave him the Medal of Honor," Henry nodded, and his voice was rough and thick as he recited some of the words that were attributed to the young man as he was posthumously awarded the citation reserved for only the bravest our country had to offer. " _For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty… His personal heroism, extraordinary valor, and inspirational supreme self-sacrifice reflected great credit upon himself and the Marine Corps and upheld the highest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service. Without regard, he gave his life for his country."_

"Wow."

"Someday soon if I have the privilege to see him again, I'm going to shake that boy's hand," the eldest Reagan offered even as his granddaughter-in-law's heart ached at that revelation. "When I think what this family owes him, and all the others… it makes me sick inside when people disgrace them."

"Pop," Eddie chided softly. "Please don't say things like that. Not everyone is that way."

"Hard to remember that sometimes in this day and age, sweetheart."

"I know," she agreed with a bit of worry over his current state. "How's your chest? Any pain?" she prodded, although by all accounts Henry had been looking and feeling much better in recent days than before his pacemaker procedure as his doctor had ensured he would.

"Nothing that you and my gg's can't cure," he added before reaching over for Joey who was now stirring in his bouncy seat between them. "Gerry, or what was left of him, is buried at Arlington," he added before adding the rest from memory. "Section 52, Grave 2447."

"That's where Rigs will go too," Eddie revealed sadly. "Or somewhere near there at least. I guess he had enough pull somehow to reserve a spot on a hill that overlooks some of his men. When I talked to her earlier, Annabel said that before he went to Arizona with Kenzie, he sent Quincy some letters to open at this time and put him in charge of all that. She said it takes a while to arrange a service with honors down there, so he wanted him to get started right away. Since he had no other family, he's leaving everything to Quince so that he can start a new life or go back to school and get a degree for whatever he wants, not just the cupcakes," she added with a small smile. "He really loved him like a son."

"Well then, when the time comes this whole family will have some respects to pay," Henry vowed. "We all have our own to honor down there… Francis, Danny, and now Jamie… lots of my old friends too."

"So, did Frank propose to Mary right after he came back like he planned?" Eddie asked with a sniff as she wiped her eyes and quickly sought to move away from the topic that was choking her with emotion.

"No, it took a long time for Francis actually to come back from the war," Henry revealed as he thought back to that dark time in his son's history. "Physically he healed pretty quickly although he was given an honorable discharge and had his time cut short. I guess they figured what he saw… well, after that he had changed. He went directly into the next academy class and honestly struggled more than a bit… didn't finish anywhere near the top where he should have been, in fact, he was within spitting distance of the bottom and barely made the cut. He and Mary kept dating through that, but it was rough, and then it was off again once he was out on the street as a rook and got mixed up with Lenny Ross, his old partner, and the crew that he ran with at the 2-5 out of Harlem. That Lenny was a piece of work, even wrote a tell-all book a few years back about the bad old days. They were young, single cops throwing themselves into their work at a time when this city might as well have been the Wild West... Broadway Frank Reagan and his merry band of head-knocking, hard-drinking, stewardess-banging mad dogs," he huffed. "My boy… and I thought Betty was beside herself before all that."

"Seriously? I can't imagine what she was thinking..." Eddie trailed off as she looked at Joey in a new light. "I just want him to stay my sweet, little baby boy forever. Gosh, this mommy thing is gonna be a lot harder than this when he gets older, isn't it?"

"You can go to the bank with that, sweetheart… not to mention he's a Reagan and you of all people know we've all got that pig-headed gene," Henry reminded with a huff. "Betty was so disappointed in the way things were going for our boy, and well, she wasn't shy about speaking her mind about it so the three of us had a drop down, drag out fight here one Sunday at dinner when he told her what he had finally done to make Mary walk away. It was the first time in his life Francis ever raised his voice to his mother out of disrespect like that, and I couldn't stand for it so I kicked him out of the house and told him not to come back until he realized what happened to him over there was no excuse to be a son of a duckie to everyone that loved him and to stay away until he was ready to have a real conversation with us," he admitted with heavy regret. "I know now that it was probably the worst thing I could have done… he needed our help, and we're lucky that things didn't go another way, but I didn't know what else to do, and he didn't speak to either of us for months after that… didn't even call on her birthday. Betty thought we lost him."

 _"FRANK?!"_ Eddie gasped in surprise at the notion of her ethically solid-as-a-rock, stalwart, Jesuit-educated, church-going, family-first father-in-law behaving in that manner as she tried to wrap her head around it. "I can't imagine… really?"

"Really," Henry assured with a slow, sad nod of his head as he gazed down at the tiny great-grandson laying on his lap and lovingly tickled his chin before being rewarded with a smile… and another copious bit of spit up. "Now, Joseph," he scolded lightly in his wife's way as Eddie quickly helped him wipe up. "Promise Pop Pop that you'll never give yer momma any grief like that. Believe it or not, your Grandpa had a bit of a chip on his shoulder back in his day…"

* * *

 _So much for Saint Francis Xavier, right? Stewardess-banging mad dog, indeed. RIP with honor, Pfc. Fitzgerald McLaughlin, although a bit of your spirit came home to live it up and cash in on that car, anyway… and that's about to cause big problems for a disillusioned Frank, a broken-hearted Mary who would hold a lifelong contempt for a particular Chevelle, and a set of disappointed grayhairs, to say the least._


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

 _"He's late for Sunday dinner... again,"_ _Betty Reagan observed with particular emphasis on the last word while she stood in the kitchen before throwing her hands in the air out of frustration after she pulled the meat tray from the oven and observed the contents. "If we wait any longer for them, the roast will be drier than old shoe leather and the green beans as limp as the laces!"_

 _"Then let's just eat, and we can warm a plate for them when they get here," Henry conceded as he grabbed some of the already prepared vegetable dishes and took them to the table, not wanting to add to what had become a contentious event between his wife and son as of late. "He had a midnight shift, sweetheart… it's his first week out on the street at a new precinct. You know that rookies always get the scut work and it's an hour's trip minimum down on the 2-line from Harlem, plus he has to meet Mary."_

 _"Yer making too many excuses for him... AGAIN," Betty huffed with crossness directed at her husband too as she joined him at the table before the two bowed their heads in a daily prayer over their meal which now always included an additional invocation for a troubled son._

 _"O Lord, we call upon You… that You give us the strength and will to bear our heavy burdens until we can again feel the warmth and love of Your divine compassion. Be mindful of us and have mercy while we struggle to comprehend life's hardships. Keep us ever in Your watch, 'til we can walk again with light hearts and renewed spirits."_

 _The final "Amen" had just left their lips when the back door opened, and Frank walked in alone._

 _"Sorry I'm late," he apologized brusquely with no further explanation after washing his hands in the kitchen and taking his seat across from Betty, sliding the napkin off the table and onto his lap before looking up._

 _"Where's Mary?" Henry puzzled as he glanced nervously over at his wife. Despite the apparent change to their son's demeanor since his return from the war, the one constant bright spot in all of their lives had been this positive-minded young woman's regular presence at their dinners which was always accentuated by a soft smile. The fact that her chair was now empty chilled both of their hearts._

 _"She's um… not coming," Frank revealed with no other details offered at first._

 _"And why is that, ye say?" Betty demanded in a voice which left no doubt that answer was insufficient. "I saw her not two days ago when she dropped by the church with some donations for the school's charity closet, and she mentioned making an apple pie for dessert this week."_

 _"We had a fight, okay?" Frank conceded with a heavy sigh as given a choice at this point he was sure his parents would have rather shared this Sunday meal with Mary than their disappointment of a son. "Pop, please pass the potatoes," he tried a time-honored Reagan family deflection._

 _"About?" his mother prompted in her unrelenting manner._

 _"ABOUT US, MOM! US! ABOUT OUR BUSINESS, NOT YOURS!" Frank thundered uncharacteristically back at her. While he would not admit it to anyone, this first week out of the academy had left him rattled and stressed as the notion of actually being on patrol again had him looking for the enemy around every corner even if it was on the city streets instead of in the jungle this time. It had proven to be far too reminiscent of a painful memory that left him edgy with nightmares disrupting any bit of sleep he had managed. On top of that, he'd pulled a real rough and tough, brash type of training officer in one Lenny Ross who grated on him like nails on a chalkboard and he had little faith in that ever making a good partnership._

 _"FRANCIS! YOU WON'T SPEAK TO YOUR MOTHER THAT WAY AGAIN, NOT AS LONG AS YOU'RE IN MY HOUSE!" Henry barked back at equal volume as his hand slammed down on the table and rattled the plates and silverware. "She's worried about you! We both are! Now, what's this with Mary? What did you do?!"_

 _"What did I do? Of course, 'cause it's always gotta be my fault, right?" a young, insubordinate Frank seethed in frustration before deciding to come clean since there was no point in hiding the facts any longer. "She got mad at me because I bought a car, okay? Like that's such terrible thing. I had the money, and I'm sick and tired of taking the train and a bus everywhere or coming all the way here to borrow the Studebaker for God's sake!"_

 _"Do not take the name of the Lord yer God in vain!" Betty hissed as he hit another sore spot since Francis Xavier Reagan had not been spotted in the pew of a church for quite some time either._

 _"Right, Ma, that's what I should be worried about now, not the fact that my girlfriend dumped me. I thought she'd be happy because we could see each other more often that way since I'm working out of the 2-5 and living up in that dive by City College, but I guess I was wrong!"_

 _"FRANCIS!" Henry tried to mitigate one last time even as he caught his own temper and blood pressure rising to dangerous levels. It had been one thing after another with his boy as of late, and he was already irritated at being forced to swallow his pride at 1PP all week after the academy graduation had revealed exactly how far down the slide his son had fallen when it came to the cadets since it was well known in the ranks now that Frank had finished just above the cutoff. "Now, what kind of car?!" he demanded as his detective's brain tried to put the pieces together. "That doesn't seem like Mary!"_

 _"A Chevelle," Frank mumbled under his breath, knowing the reaction his parents were going to have with that admission. Honestly he didn't even know why he had done it—just walked into the dealership on a whim the other day and put the entire thing down in cash on a brand new Ascot blue '71 SS model, cleaning out his bank account of all the back pay he had left from 'Nam—except for the fact that Gerry's voice had been echoing through his restless sleep as of late and he somehow felt like he owed it to his friend to make that dream of his come true._

 _"A CHEVELLE? NEW?! One of those damn muscle cars? That must have set you back at least three-and-a-half grand… oh, Francis," Henry sighed as he sat back in frustration. "That's the whole year of your service pay! Why would you go and do something like that? Even with the money you had, on a rookie's salary, that and the rest of it is a big nut. You'll be tapped out! You promised her the two of you would make a life together if she waited until after you were out of the academy!"_

 _"So, we will, just not right away!" Frank chose to go on the defensive again, and Betty's ire rose as she saw it for what it was immediately—an excuse to force someone else that mattered to him further away before he could get hurt by their loss again. "I have a job, not that she does, and it was my choice! I earned it! Or have you forgotten the scars I came back with?! It was blood money, and I'm glad it's gone!"_

 _"Well, seems like yer glad Mary's gone too!" Betty challenged him as she fought back the tears for the future daughter-in-law she felt had just been lost. "Poor girl's been working so hard and is just about done finishing up her Associate's degree so the two of you could have a better start, and you've pushed everyone else away—yer God and parents, now her too! You'll never find another like that! I'm ashamed to say yer me son!"_

 _"Oh, please, spare me the lesson for once, would ya?" Frank bit back. "You and Dad both are always so disappointed in me anymore it seems or is there another reason why he stayed with the rest of the chiefs at graduation and didn't come down to shake my hand at the end of the ceremony?" he challenged as he eyes his father directly. "Look, I'm a screwed-up grunt," he continued. "At least that's what the Marines said by sending me home early, didn't they? Always will be now, and nobody's mistaking me for the next Reagan being groomed for an office upstairs. The only reason I probably passed at all was because of what my last name is. I'm a landmine for your career; I get it."_

 _"You're talking crap," Henry spat back. "If that's all you think of yourself, you're the only one."_

 _"I'm not talking crap, Dad, I'm talking the truth. That's all you can come back with; I'm talking crap?"_

 _"YES!" Henry roared as he had finally boiled over and had enough of his insolent son. "And did you even consider that maybe I tried to get down there, but it was tough since there were more than a thousand rooks that finished in front of you standing in my way!"_

 _"You're making jokes?"_

 _"No, not in the least, and SHUT THE HELL UP!" Henry continued to fume as he got up and started to pace even as he demanded the conversation continue. "Answer me this, Francis. Do you really think I would worry about that, or side against you, ever?" his father asked and waited while his scowling son stared down at the table with no reply. "How sad for you," Henry's voice broke with emotion as he looked over at the tears streaming from Betty's eyes—all the love and devotion she had given Frank over the years from that very first minute of his life had boiled down to this, and he felt beyond them now. Still, he knew what needed to be done._

 _"NOW GET OUT OF OUR HOUSE! I know what it means to come back from war when you've seen the horrors and left friends there, but that doesn't mean you can be a son of a…" Henry trailed off in deference to his wife who was sitting there and now sobbing for another son. "It's no excuse for the way you're treating the rest of us! You won't be welcome here to disrespect your mother and me this way again! Come back when you're ready to have a conversation for real!"_

 _###_

"Wow," Eddie breathed for the second time, simply flabbergasted by that turn of events in what had been, to this point, a story about love and devotion in the early years of the Reagan family as she knew it. "Poor Frank, poor you and poor Betty!" she added in sympathy. "He really had a hard time dealing with Gerry's death, didn't he? No wonder he never talks about him anymore. I know that Jamie and I had it a little rough there when he was first hurt and so much in his head about things, maybe even still... especially with what's happening with Rigs right now, but at least he's getting better, and I can't imagine having to walk away from him. Betty must have been devastated."

"Yes," Henry sighed as he thought back to that dark day and the months that followed. "She cried over that fight for weeks after he walked out. It was honestly almost as bad as losing Peter again. We had a son that we thought was perfect, and suddenly he wasn't anymore and then gone away before we knew what happened. It could have been to the moon for all that it mattered. She mourned for him and for Mary's loss too… by that point she had become a daughter to us, just like you are to Frank and me, sweetheart," he added with a grateful smile for his attentive granddaughter-in-law who had done everything in her power the past few days to make sure he was comfortable.

"I guess that I can understand," Eddie admitted with a frown as she sat back. "The part about having someone in your life that's perfect, until suddenly they aren't anymore and your whole world falls apart around them. I'm talking about my dad, not Jamie," she emphasized knowing what had been assumed about her motives in the past by a certain sister-in-law when it looked likely that her husband would never fully recover from his injuries. "One day he was the best daddy in the whole wide world, and then suddenly we found out he was a crook, and he was being led off in handcuffs after stealing from all of our friends. Mom and me… we turned on each other after that. She was so angry and embarrassed at being betrayed, not to mention dirt poor all of a sudden, and I even blamed her a lot, thinking that she made him do it. It took a long time for us to get past that, and now he's about to get out of prison, and I'm scared of losing my mom again," she admitted. "I never thought that her moving out of this house would make me feel so sad."

"You won't lose her," Henry assured, although he would have never chosen those exact words if he had any notion of the events to come in the next few months that would not only threaten Eddie's relationship with both of her parents once more but also her mother's very life. "Eva's grown too, she's in charge of herself now and completely in love with her little unokák," he smiled down at Joey who was enthusiastically kicking and stretching his arms as he lay on his great-grandfather's lap. "Nothing will be able to pry her grandchildren or you away from her again."

"Nothing? Not even Armin Janko?"

"Not even," Henry guaranteed with a knowing smile. "Nothing trumps family blood... and forgiveness is an important part of that, especially when there are so many things that need time to be healed."

"Well, it's been years now, and I don't think my mom has touched on that forgiveness part yet even though she claims to have 'swung the hatchet,'" Eddie shrugged as she thought about Eva's often misspoken idiom. "I just can't imagine them meeting face-to-face again. Maybe I should make sure it happens here, so I can have a unit waiting outside and clear the field of all potential weapons," she quipped only half-jokingly. "What brought Frank back? Did he just come to his senses one day and realize he needed all of you again?"

"Well, not exactly," the Reagan patriarch admitted. "He hadn't hit rock bottom yet, believe it or not, and things only got worse with the company he was keeping up at the 2-5. It took another six months and a close call on the job to make Francis realize he was wasting his time with that life. He cleaned up his act, went back to Mary, and they were married within the year. Danny came along less than eleven months after that. If it hadn't been for that day though, and a punk kid named Albert Thompson, things might have gone down a different path…"

* * *

 _One of my all-time favorite scenes from the series is that time Danny thought his father was investigating him and they had it out at the house in epi 04:19 "Secret Arrangements," (which of course also included our Jamko first kiss!) so I was happy to have an excuse to borrow heavily from that for our last flashback. Next, we discover exactly what circumstances brought Mary Margaret and Frank back together, and a grieving Jamie rejoins the conversation while receiving a little needed grandfatherly guidance of his own._


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

"Why Daddy sad?" a precocious and observant Kaylin worried later that evening as she was helping her mother with Joey's nighttime tubby. "Him sick 'gain?"

"No, baby," Eddie assured as she carefully let the little girl gently shampoo her infant brother's thin wisps of blonde hair while they kneeled beside the tub together upstairs, knowing that after a quiet dinner Henry had taken Jamie outside to sit on the back deck for some stargazing and private grandfatherly TLC coupled with a few good belts of scotch to help him come to terms with what was about to happen imminently elsewhere.

"His heart is hurting though because one of his good friends, Mr. Rigsby, isn't feeling well right now, and Daddy is upset because he misses him a lot."

"Oh, did he go 'way to a new place like Nagyanya?" Kaylin asked as she had been equally disappointed that evening to learn about her grandmother's impending departure from their home now after Eva had come home late and explained to them that her offer was accepted, and she would be moving to the new brownstone apartment near Prospect Park within the next few weeks. "Me'll miss her."

"A bit like that," Eddie agreed, tired after the long, worrisome day thinking about her husband and what he was facing with little sleep from the night before, and not in the mood to scare Kaylin or get into an existential discussion with her daughter over the concept of heaven or what might be waiting in the great beyond. "Careful of his eyes, like this, baby," she directed as they washed the sweet-smelling no-tear suds away from Joey's face and Kaylin beamed with pride at being able to help with such an important task now that her brother was at home. "Great job, Kay! You're such a good big sister! Can you get me the towel over there, so we can dry him off and make him snuggly warm now? And a new diaper too, honey," she added and lifted the baby out of his seat in the tub.

"Besides Nagyanya isn't moving too far away, only about twenty minutes so we'll still get to see her lots."

"Not at night-night time for stories," the little girl reminded her of a favorite thing she would miss as she brought the items over. "Joey likes them too," she added to bolster her case like the Harvard-educated Supreme Court justice Jamie jokingly fancied her to be someday.

"Sometimes even at night," Eddie encouraged with a smile as she dressed her son in a clean onesie for bedtime. "She's going to have a guest bedroom there all set up so you and your brother can stay over once in a while like you do at Grandpa's house."

"Will Bear get to come too then?" the little girl brightened at the thought of another place to take her best four-footed buddy for a sleepover.

"Oh, well, hmm… that's a really good question, sweetie," Eddie hedged to buy time as she searched for a way out. "I'm not sure if Nagyanya is allowed to have pets in her new apartment," she covered quickly for her mother, knowing there was no way Eva would ever permit her feline nemesis to touch so much as a paw in her new space barring a nuclear war even though the two had maintained somewhat of a truce here over the past few months. "She probably has to find out once she's there for a while, so we'll ask her about that later, okay? How about if we knock on her door and see if she'll watch Joey and tell you both another one of those stories while I go and check on how Daddy is doing?"

Having skirted that potential family crisis, Eddie made her way downstairs and paused for a few minutes in the kitchen to brew some of her favorite mixed berry decaf tea, denying a strong desire to spike it with something more substantial as she looked out on the back deck where two of her favorite men appeared to be in deep conversation.

"I feel like I should be on one of those planes with Quincy heading out there right now no matter what Rigs said," Jamie admitted as he relaxed back, staring up at the stars and a few of those slow-moving, blinking aviation lights above them on a clear night while pushing his trailing leg softly against the decking to swing just slightly in his new and very comfortable oversized hammock—a much appreciated early Father's Day present from his two beloved munchies professing their love for him to the moon and back, or so said the illustrated crayoned note that has been found with it.

"Death isn't something that requires a witness, son… you of all people should understand that considering some of the things you've gone through," Henry advised as he took a sip from his tumbler while he likewise sat back with his feet up on the wicker coffee table, feeling the warmth as the amber liquid went down, and thankful to be able to enjoy the fine taste as he had not needed anything stronger than a few ibuprofen the past few days.

"Isn't exactly something I'd want to face alone again either if I didn't have to," Jamie answered honestly.

"Then that's your choice, and it depends on the circumstances doesn't it? Sometimes maybe this is better. The world doesn't always turn around us, and it's not your call in this case. Going against what someone else wants and making it about you is wrong."

"I know, but this doesn't feel right either."

"You're not responsible for Rigs' cancer any more than you were for your own mother's or what happened to Joe. Just like your father wasn't responsible for any of that or Gerry's death, although it took him a long time to come to grips with both."

"Gee, I wonder where we get _that_ from?" Jamie chided his grandfather with a soft frown as he glanced over, having been already brought up to speed with the story of his father's tragic experience in the war. "What happened to Grandma Betty wasn't your fault either, Pop; it was another heart attack that took her and yet you've carried that guilt all these years."

"Maybe not for that, but it was my fault the way she spent those last two months… it wasn't what she wanted, Jamie. I went against her wishes and forced her to have that surgery when she had already made her peace. I couldn't… or wouldn't… accept the fact that she was ready to be with Peter because I wasn't ready to let her go. Those final weeks at home when I had to care for her because of the complications… to do everything for her… she lost her dignity, and that wasn't right because it's all she had left. I took that from her, and I regret to this day that I didn't listen. It was purely selfish. Rigs wants to hold on to what he was before, so let him have that. He's counting on you to be there for Quincy now... to be his family. Remember him that way; that's how you two boys need to honor him."

"I will," Jamie promised softly as he knew his grandfather was being honest on all counts and a bit of peace came to his heart while he grew to accept those directions from the Commander as the right thing to do in this case just as his beloved wife stepped out on the deck to join them. "C'mere, lambchop," he offered, wanting to feel her close, and she gratefully joined him to lay pressed up against his side as he wrapped his arms around her tightly and continued his slow, soothing rocking motion back and forth. "Thank you for this… all of it," he whispered with a kiss as he held her, and she melted into his touch. "I love you and the kids so much more than anything else… you're my life."

"Aw, we love you too, and I see Pop and the scotch are working their magic," she replied in a relieved tone and gave silent thanks to find him in a much more mellow state, although her curiosity was piqued, and she wanted to make sure she hadn't missed anything important since Henry had promised not to continue the rest of story without her. "So where did he leave off? Did he tell you about Albert Thompson?"

"You mean the part about Dad finally hitting rock bottom after less than a year on the job because he let stuff get to him and didn't think he deserved to come back home or be happy after what happened to Gerry? Yeah," Jamie acknowledged with another squeeze and a vow to heed the lesson. "I got the message."

###

 _"C'mon, Frankie… you look like hell this morning," Lenny Ross smirked as he looked across the parked squad car at his young partner who was obviously still feeling the effects of their wild night before, which had culminated in what he considered a most satisfying fashion with a beautiful international blonde on a layover in his bed around four in the morning, leaving little time for sleep before their scheduled first shift. "Here, take a hit… hair of the dog," he advised as he pulled a small flask out from under the front seat. "Do you a world of good."_

 _"Not sure how you're so together," Frank grumped openly as he rubbed his exhausted, aching head and pushed it away. "We're on duty."_

 _"Oh, what?" Lenny laughed as he unscrewed the cap and followed his own advice anyway, dumping a good measure in his coffee. "What is it? The part about hanging the kid off the roof or winding up the night with the two stews at the Hotel Oswald?"_

 _"Both."_

 _"Hey, look around… this city's an ugly mess, and we're the sheriffs in charge of taking it back block by block. You did what was needed to get him... he's a damn skell that took down a cop… one that was standing right next to you when he got hit. In my book that deserves a medal even if your father doesn't think so. Should have done us all a favor and let him drop four stories… woulda showed the rest of them we mean business. And what happened after? Well, so everyone wanted to buy you a drink… we had a rough day yesterday and needed to unwind a little. Besides, we're both single, and that last part happened when we were off-duty. No harm done."_

 _"Not proud of it."_

 _"Well, I'm proud of it… we got a wannabe cop killer off the street."_

 _"At what cost? He only became that because we went in there with our guns out first and asked questions later," Frank asked with a heavy heart since the events of the last twenty-four hours or so were just catching up with him now as the shock and subsequent alcohol stupor were both beginning to wear off. All of this had started just before dawn the day before when three hand-picked units had been sent in as backup with a pair of detectives to roust a suspected gang member out of his E. 100th St. Harlem apartment, albeit with questionable intel and thin probable cause. An enthusiastic and gung-ho rookie, Frank had nonetheless volunteered for the entry team and had been just behind the lead officer as they breached the door when a bullet fired nearly instantaneously from the living room missed him by a narrow margin before striking Officer Williams in the upper arm._

 _"Turns out he wasn't even in the gang… just a kid scared out of his mind, not fifteen yet, trying to protect himself after he and his brother had been threatened for refusing to get jumped in. We did their dirty work for them, Len. It was a message… someone played us. The whole thing stinks of a setup."_

 _"Yeah, sure. Hey, the NYPD hits your door, tells you to get down and your first reaction is to pull a nine-mil from under the couch cushion, shoot a cop and jump out a fourth story window to get away, you're no angel. He deserved what he got and more," Ross insisted with contempt and no mercy. "You're just lucky that Williams took the hit. A split-second difference and that would have been you with a neat little hole drilled through your chest."_

 _"Almost wish it woulda been," Frank admitted to himself under his breath as the guilt of watching while yet another comrade took a round meant for him had pushed him very nearly over the red line. "He has a family… a wife and kid," he reminded. "Doc says there's nerve damage. He may never work the street again."_

 _"Yeah, that's too bad, but if he wanted to protect them, he shoulda transferred outta here. This is the Wild, Wild West, Frankie… and don't you forget it… a place for screw ups and young guns looking to make their bones like us."_

 _"I guess," Frank agreed as his heart panged at that notion, not sure where on that spectrum he fell. His low rank and status upon graduation from the academy had left him with few options for rookie placement, even with a big whale of a hook who had solidified his position as Chief of Detectives and was garnering the growing respect of those around him for a move further up the chain of command. Henry's disappointment with his son's conduct since his return to the states had become a point of contention that shoved a wedge between them culminating in the fight that caused his father to kick him out of the family home and promise him no favors. This reckless lifestyle and attitude had long since driven Mary away as well, even though she had done her best to be patient and help him try to turn things around in the beginning before it became apparent that action was well above her pay grade. The final straw had come a few days after his appointment to the 2-5 when he had irresponsibly taken those funds that had once been earmarked for a ring and a life together and had instead plunked it all down on a brand-new blue '71 Chevy SS Chevelle… one just like Gerry had spent countless hours longing for all those months in country. A single look at that car as he drove up and Mary had merely turned and walked away again._

 _"I'm telling ya," Lenny continued in the background. "Going out the window after him alone and chasing that kid up the fire escape before jumping across three rooftops like a bull moose, then hanging him off the edge like that when he slipped will get you respect around here. I almost thought you were gonna drop him for what he did," he chuckled with a smug look over. "Should have, woulda made you a bigger hero than you already are."_

 _"Almost did," Frank answered, and the natural way that admission came out was a shock, even to his own bitter mind. He remembered the frightened eyes of that boy, Albert Thompson, looking up at him while he literally held his life in his hands. But for the grace of God he hadn't let go even though he had honestly wanted to. Had he really fallen that far? To the point where he was willing to do anything to retaliate against the perceived enemy, becoming no better than a cold-blooded killer himself? Those minutes after the grenade had exploded in the jungle and taken with it his best friend had been spent flat on his back, reeling from both the physical and mental pain of what he had seen plus multiple shrapnel wounds, staring up at the sky and waiting for his own end to come, his only regrets being that he'd never see his sweet Mary Margaret again and would be unable to avenge Gerry's death by taking at least one of them with him before it happened._

 _"And I'm no hero," he choked back some fresh grief for both those losses as he considered what that word truly meant and who it should be reserved for. "Don't ever call me that again."_

###

"Geez, no wonder why Mom always hated that car," Jamie mused as he considered his current feelings towards the vehicle which sat in a garage not far away and had been ingrained through so much of the family's history, yet had nearly taken everything from them on more than one occasion. "Surprised she let him keep it after they were married. How'd they ever get back together after all that?"

"That day was a big wake up call for Francis," Henry admitted with a wry glance over at his grandson. "Albert Thompson was set up, he was a victim himself, and your Dad almost crossed that line between justice and vengeance, Jamison… and you know how _that_ is, don't you?" he added with obvious emphasis, of course referencing that time Jamie himself had taken things into his own hands after ditching his partner Vinny at the bodega to pursue a suspect in his grandfather's mugging at the ATM, having nearly done the same as his father when he likewise chased a perp across the rooftops until he was dangling high above.

"Must run in the family," he coughed. "Like father, like son."

"Huh?" Eddie puzzled as she had no frame of reference as to what they were talking about. "Danny you mean… not the boy scout? You did that?"

"Um… well, there were extenuating circumstances, and I'll tell you about it later," Jamie downplayed with a guilty smirk and shake of his head, vowing that the details of that little story of him going off the reservation would never come out. "Besides, Pop, I had the right guy, and you already admitted that in my case you would have dropped him yourself... I didn't. Now, what about Mom and Dad?"

"Oh, well, your father's eyes were finally open, and he could see the handwriting on the wall. He knew if he stayed up there with the crew at the 2-5, that eventually, he'd wind up jaded just like Lenny and the rest of them, so he came to see his mother and me the next night and asked for our help to clean up his act a little…"

###

 _"Henry! It's after nine o'clock! Someone is knocking on the front door! Were you expecting a visitor this late?" Betty Reagan fretted as she hovered in the kitchen dressed in her housecoat and slippers, afraid to answer it herself and instantly rendered anxious since in her experience as a cop's wife, nothing ever good came of an unannounced late-night call. Even though Frank was still estranged from them, that didn't mean she worried any less with the knowledge he was out on the streets wearing a badge like a target at any given time._

 _"Please tell me, 'tis not an officer?" she begged to know in a shaky voice as her husband went to the door and peered out._

 _"Yes, but it's one you'll be happy to see again… at least I hope so," he added under his breath as he undid the locks and opened the door wide to reveal a sheepish-looking Frank Reagan standing nervously on his parents' front porch, still dressed in his patrol uniform with that much-maligned Chevelle parked out front by the curb._

 _"Francis," he stated simply as Betty rushed over before pausing at her husband's shoulder to hold back a little as they both tried to read their prodigal son's state._

 _"What's wrong, dear?" she queried finally after a long, uncomfortable silence before going to his side and squeezing his arm as she waited for some notice as to what this was about while looking up in the face of her six-foot-four son that despite everything he had witnessed to her still held the innocence of a child._

 _"Tell us," she encouraged softly once more._

 _"I um… well, you said not to come back until I was ready to talk…" Frank finally admitted through a rough, raspy voice filled with emotion as he bit his cheek and tried unsuccessfully to quell it, but the once tightly held valve was opened, and that was enough, he had his mother's welcoming arms wrapped around him like a loving vice grip before he could say another word._

 _"Come in then, dear, it's your home again. I've been waiting along with all me heart to hear you say those words to us," Betty assured as she led her son into the living room and sat by his side on the couch, never relinquishing her taut hold on him for the next several hours as they spoke honestly through tears about what had brought him back to this place, and forgiveness was offered and accepted on all sides. Henry had heard the reports about the incident the day before of course, and it was with great relief that he convinced Frank there was a better course forward for him to take in the department._

###

"Only time I ever pulled a hook for him," Henry concluded with a smug smile as he looked out over the yard and recalled that night. "I could see it was a real turning point for the boy and the next day worked an immediate transfer to the 3-5 so he could stay here at home with us again. Living under this roof with his mother watching him like a hawk put him back on the straight and narrow pretty quick. A few weeks later he decided it was time to see Mary…"

* * *

 _So, there was a bit of a housekeeping in the past few chapters since a few elements for the next installment had to be set in place as Eva and Armin Janko's unresolved feelings for one another will be tested once he is released from prison, and the events that follow will shake their daughter's faith in her father to the core again. Next, we finally will hear directly from Mary as Frank tries a smooth move to pick up his old flame, hoping that absence has made the heart grow fonder, but will it backfire?_


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

 _"He's out there again," Mary's co-worker Judy Kresge announced as she glanced through the front window from their shared desk area in the offices of Barrett and Cross where the two held entry-level positions as newly hired legal secretaries. Both women looked over to the right and spotted Officer Francis Reagan as he entered through the glass doors to make his now-daily gift deposit at the front desk in the lobby while on his meal break from the local precinct. Thus far his modest presents had consisted of a card, a box of fancy chocolates and a single favorite flower in a vase._

 _"I wonder what it is this time? That makes four days in a row. Should I call the police?"_

 _"Judy, he is the police," Mary tutted with a heavy sigh as she glanced at her hand where a ring should be and vowed that the apparent peace offering, whatever it was, would wind up unopened or unappreciated in the trash along with the previous three._

 _"Well, obviously, I know that," her likewise single friend ignored the barb and took a deep breath in reply as she continued to let her dreamy eyes linger on the smartly dressed, tall and handsome young officer who quickly turned heel to offer a familiar tilted-head smile, eyebrow lift and nod to the two women with a twinkle in his eyes for his beloved as he clutched his patrol cap to his chest in an exaggerated fashion before taking his leave and pausing to place it on his head while readjusting the fit once he stepped outside._

 _"But who doesn't love a man in uniform… especially one that looks like that?"_

 _"I don't," Mary gritted and tried to sound convincing even as she watched with undeniable longing through the window as he walked down the street with a brisk step before disappearing around the corner. "What is it this time?" she unsuccessfully feigned disinterest when Judy returned from quickly retrieving the item._

 _"I don't know, but this one's addressed to me!" Judy gushed as her fingers made short work of stripping the fancy wrapping paper off the small box without a thought to ask permission from her friend first. "Oh my gosh! Mary, look at these! Tickets for tomorrow night to 'Two Gentlemen of Verona' at the St. James Theatre on West 44th! Front balcony seats! They're like impossible to get right now! We could never afford them on what we make here! It just won two Tony's including one for best musical!" she added excitedly before quickly searching through the enclosed material looking for a further explanation. "I've been dying to see it!"_

 _"A rock opera based on a Shakespearean comedy about a man named Valentine who leaves a girl in his homeland, falls in love with another and plots to win her hand… all of which can be summed up by saying it's easy to forget you're in love when the person isn't literally standing in front of you," Mary deadpanned with a sniff as she considered the parallels with her own situation and had no doubt in her mind that a certain former suitor was up to something with all of this. "Broadway Frank Reagan," she recited his newly assigned playboy nickname with a contemptuous edge to her voice as news of his recent exploits had filtered back to her over the course of the past few months. "I suppose he thinks I'm just going to swoon over that."_

 _"No," Judy clarified as she quickly read the attached note and visibly deflated. "It says here that he always promised you a night out on the town and a play, and that you still deserve one even if it's not with him. You're supposed to take the tickets and use them as you wish. He addressed this one to me because he was afraid that you would throw them out without looking first like everything else," she stated while glancing up with major disappointment evident since more than a small part of her had honestly hoped that Frank had indeed turned his attention her way instead, and barring that her elation over being invited out for an exciting evening had just been squashed by the doubtful look on her friend's face. "He said he won't bother you anymore, but that he's transferred to the 3-5 permanently and is staying with his parents again in Bay Ridge in case you ever change your mind," she finished. "There's a phone number."_

 _"Oh," Mary frowned as she reached for the letter and skimmed over it once more, noting that there were a few more details included that made it clear the next move was hers alone. "Well, if he expects me to feel bad that he's made this grand gesture and spent a week's pay on these seats so that I'll forget everything and call him back; he's got another thing coming," she vowed and reached into her purse for an address book._

###

"Uh-oh, Oreos," Eddie lamented in a singsong voice as she reached over to smack Jamie's arm as a preemptive warning in case he was ever tempted to take the same route after a fight.

"Something tells me that your mom wasn't gullible enough to fall for that."

"Doubtful," Jamie acknowledged as he blew out a breath and considered his mother's likely reaction to that kind of backhanded manipulation. "She would have taught him a lesson," he decided. "Dad always said she was smarter than him and knew when any of us were up to something like she had eyes in the back of her head. After all that, he didn't really expect her to call him to go out that night, did he?" he asked his grandfather.

"Oh, no, and he was prepared if she didn't… or so he thought," Henry agreed. "But when it came to Mary, Francis was always a little off his game. He had done a bit of recon by that point and knew she wasn't seeing anyone seriously, certainly no one that would think a Shakespearean musical was a fun date, and he had heard that her friend was a known Broadway buff, so he assumed that because Judy had those tickets in her hand with short notice Mary would do the logical thing and invite her for a girls' night out. He actually bought a third seat a few rows back in the same section hoping that once they got there, he could sweet talk this other woman into moving and let him sit by Mary, and because she would never make a scene in public he would have at least half the play before intermission to work his magic next to her in person."

"But that didn't happen?" Eddie surmised.

"Nope," Henry confirmed as he sat back while a little smile played out on his lips as he remembered his daughter-in-law's guff which mirrored Betty's own and was also now reflected in Jamie's wife… evidently, Reagan men required a strong woman at their side. "At least not at first. Mary Margaret O'Donnell was nobody's fool, and like Jamie said, she set out to teach Francis a lesson that day he would never forget. Someone probably had to sweep his jaw up off the floor when she walked in that night with her hair up, dressed to the nines and…"

###

 _...on the arm of another man._

 _Frank blinked hard—twice—the instant he spotted them together before his heart fell to the bottom of his patent leather-covered toes while he stood in shock, dressed in his finest suit and hiding in the shadows near the curtains behind the balcony seating. There she was, his beautiful Mary Margaret, almost near enough to touch as he longed to do when she brushed by too close for comfort in the aisle aside her attentive and equally well-dressed, cultured-looking date, laughing and simply radiant in a vintage gray faux mink stole layered over a navy-blue gown that tastefully accentuated every aspect of her gorgeous figure._

 _He had never felt so utterly in love and puddled at the same time in his entire life._

 _Stunned by the unforeseen turn of events, Frank remained frozen in place while the couple was seated in the center of the front row by the usher, appearing completely comfortable in one another's company as this stranger's hand dared slip down to the small of her back while helping her off with the wrap almost as an afterthought. He remained still and unable to move even as the young man turned and made his way back up the passage with the garment in his hands and pointedly smiled back, almost as if he knew who he was and expected him to be there before hanging it neatly on the coat rack not two feet away, the subtle scent of Mary's favorite perfume striking Frank like a blow._

 _"Evening," this handsome interloper greeted him before returning to the seat next to his Mary as the two continued their friendly banter along with a bit of light hugging and giggling like two young lovers while they were waiting for the show to start. Frank was certain he would become physically ill if he witnessed any further contact between them and had just made up his mind to leave, but before that could happen, the usher appeared next to his side and after demanding a look at his ticket impatiently waved him towards his center seat before the performance could start. Still numb and unwilling to cause a scene that would no doubt reveal his presence to Mary, he determined the best course of action was to remain where he was and then quickly leave at the first intermission. Unfortunately, once again that effort was thwarted by the two older woman who had bookended him in the middle of the row and were slow to stand when the lights came back up. With a panicked look akin to that of a deer trapped in the headlights, for one brief instant he considered throwing himself over the seat in front of him and army crawling out of there on his hands and knees, but it was too late as Mary turned with her escort and their eyes locked on one another from not six feet away._

 _In that instant, and with that one look, Francis Xavier Reagan knew he had been played and his knees almost buckled in relief._

 _"Frank," came her even, icy, drawn-out acknowledgment with not a hint surprise at his presence there, and he swore a satisfied smile even edged the corner of her exquisite lips as she took in his shaken state. "Imagine seeing you here."_

 _"Mary Margaret," he managed to croak out as the balcony emptied around leaving them isolated in the space… just the three of them. "Ahem… well, you look lovely this evening," he added in a vast understatement as he was sure there was no other woman in the hall, or hell, perhaps on the entire eastern seaboard right now who could challenge her for that honor._

 _"Thank you," she replied politely and wrapped her arm tightly around her date's elbow to goad him one step further before finally showing mercy and letting him off the hook. "You remember Thomas, my cousin from Albuquerque who is attending NYU as a theatre major. He has a small stand-in role in the fourth act tonight and should be leaving to prepare for it."_

 _"Oh, uh, no… I mean I don't believe we've had the pleasure," Frank stuttered out as they made their way down the now-cleared rows to the aisle. "Nice to meet you," he added and extended his hand, his pulse thudding in relief at that admission._

 _"Likewise," the young man smirked and returned the favor with a nod towards Mary, obviously in on the joke and play-acting, for want of a better word, the entire time. "And I believe my work for the evening is done, at least up here," he added as he took her hand up to his lips and gave it a light kiss with an exaggerated bow to the lady. "I must get into costume. Lovely as always, cousin," he offered before taking his leave. "I'll meet you if necessary after the curtain."_

 _"Break a leg tonight, Thomas!" she laughed and called after him, before turning a smug look on Frank as he reached for her arm and she conceded with a sniff after a pause._

 _"You knew I was going to be here the whole time didn't you, Mary Margaret," he chided as he escorted her out to the hallway, his heart now lighter with her at his side and the full knowledge that she had come expecting to see him, although the end game was hardly a given yet as he could still clearly read her apprehension._

 _"Of course, I did, Frank," she admitted with a peevish glance. "If nothing else your aftershave gave it away tonight. My eyes were watering; you really must learn to cut back on the Bay Rum when you're in a tight public space."_

 _"Then why did you come with your cousin?" he asked gently as they stopped in a quiet corner to talk and he turned her to face him, getting directly to the point with the hope of hashing things out now that he had the chance. "To teach me a lesson?"_

 _"Yes, but that wasn't the only reason."_

 _"Then, what?" he searched. "You said you're planning on leaving tonight with him? But you're here with me now, Mary Margaret… you wanted to see me again, didn't you?" he implored, praying with every fiber of his being that was the other point. "Please, sweetheart... tell me that's the truth."_

 _"I did, but now I honestly don't trust myself... Thomas promised to see me home if necessary," she stuttered out sadly, growing flustered with having to admit to planning an escape route from the man she once loved with all her soul as she leaned against the wall looking down at the ground while still holding his hand. "I… I wanted to talk to you, Frank... I thought I could do this because I've missed you so much, but after all that's happened, I don't know if I can go through it again… this just hurts too much," she paused, and he could feel the weight of her sadness at what had been left between them. "I think maybe I came to say goodbye, instead," she whispered with regret. "Why did you do this?"_

 _"I needed to see you again too," he affirmed. "Look at me, Mary Margaret," he added and gently nudged her chin up so she met his eyes with tears evident and it nearly shattered his heart to see reflected back how badly her trust in him was broken. "Please, honey, don't give up on us yet," he begged. "I know what I did to you during this past year cannot be forgiven no matter what reasons were behind it. I don't even understand them myself, but it was wrong… I hurt you, and I'm ashamed because of that. I wasn't the same after…" he paused and left the rest of that unsaid as he looked up at the ceiling as the lump in his throat grew. "I tried to be someone I wasn't since then... I think because I felt guilty that I got to come home, and he didn't."_

 _"Oh, Frank," Mary looked up at him with renewed sympathy at that admission. "That's not what Gerry would have wanted. He was your best friend; he loved you."_

 _"I know, but what he did for me… seeing that messed me up for a while," Frank admitted as he stared down and nervously toed the ground. "He was having a hard time over there right before it happened... there was no one else for him and all he had to talk about every night while I was thinking about you and reading your letters was how he was going to buy that damn Chevelle, and he never got to do that. It took me a while to realize that no matter what I did, it wouldn't bring him back… the car, pushing you and my parents away, acting like some kind of stupid womanizing urban cowboy behind a badge… it was all part of that. I'm working on changing now though; I want you to know that. Please, I have no right to ask, but just give me one more chance, Mary Margaret, and let me show you it's true. I know I've made promises before and have broken every single one of them, but this time is different, and I'll do anything… I swear. I've already moved home to Bay Ridge, quit going out after work, I'm back at church with Mom and Dad, and he got me transferred to the 3-5 so I could get away from that other life. I'll sell the damn car tomorrow or push it into the river if you just say the word…"_

 _"Frank, I don't want you to do that to try to prove something to me. I just don't know if things can work between us again," Mary admitted sadly even though her heart cried otherwise and ached to be wrapped in his strong arms again._

 _"Can we try? Please, sweetheart? Let's just start over from right here tonight, and if I ever disappoint you in any way, tell me to leave, and I'll never bother you again," he vowed sincerely. "I've missed you, Mary Margaret, you're the only true love I've ever known," he added in a low voice as he drew her closer while his head dropped down towards hers and he breathed in her sweet scent in like a tonic for his soul until after another moment's hesitation he felt her give in as her lips came up to seek his once more for a small, teasing, glorifying, exhilarating moment that set a wave of fireworks off in his brain before she pulled away again._

 _"I'm afraid I don't usually kiss a gentleman on a first date unless it's goodnight at the doorway," she whispered coyly as she took his hand and led him back towards the balcony once more. "C'mon, Frank… it's almost time for our second act to start."_

###

"Wow, I can't believe after all that it actually worked… Shakespeare, huh? Way to go, Dad," Jamie huffed in admiration for his father as he continued to lay and snuggle with his only true love. "This one would be so much easier though," he conceded with a smirk to his grandfather. "Two-for-one wing night at O'Sullivan's would probably do the trick," he teased as Eddie giggled back knowing he was probably not too far off course.

"Throw in a couple of beers, and I would have let you keep the car," she teased. "Wait, she did… I mean obviously," she added as her brow furrowed and she considered the ramifications that had brought some forty years later. "How'd that happen?"

"Never figured it out... officially... probably not something Betty and I ever wanted to know," Henry admitted with a chuckle at that understatement. "All we heard was that by the end of the play when the curtains went down that night Francis and Mary were together again, and this time they never looked back. He was down on one knee a few months later, and they were husband and wife in less than a year in a small ceremony with a reception here in the backyard because they couldn't afford anything else. Her parents weren't well off, and didn't really approve of Mary's choice in a cop. The kids didn't want to burden them or accept our help… and, the rest, as they say, is history," he added with great satisfaction.

"Wait... officially?" Eddie perked up as she caught him trying to slide that past them. "You know something else, don't you? Spill, old man!" she demanded as she raised up on one elbow to back that up with a daring glare.

"Let's just say a certain, unconfirmed report wound up on my desk the next day because someone used one of my courtesy cards when they were caught parked by the river in a steamed up blue Chevelle. I never told his mother though. She had just gotten Francis and Mary back, and it would have killed her."

"POP!" Jamie cried as he instantly blushed while picturing his parents once more in that light and Eddie snickered back as he sat himself up in apparent unease and swung his legs over the side of the hammock.

"What? At least it wasn't in Betty's Studebaker that time."

"STOP! Too much information!" Jamie huffed with a pained look at his wife, wanting nothing more than to plug his ears and hum "la, la, la" before another word could be said as the sexual tension between them had been bubbling up for months now as they waited to be one again, and any mention of something like that when they were so close was enough to push him embarrassingly over the proverbial edge. "What's with this family?!" he added, grabbing a pillow in front of him for modesty. "First the fireplace and now the car? Please, God, tell me that's not how we ended up with Danny, and don't give this one any more ideas!" he warned as he saw the wheels turning in his wife's head. "I'm going upstairs to take a shower and cool off!"

* * *

 _Poor Jamie, he's had a rough start to the weekend, and it's only going to get worse over the next few chapters as the Reagan family gathers together as a whole once more to celebrate Father's Day and remember the past as this walk down memory lane continues while they wait for very different news on several fronts and a few more family secrets are revealed._


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

"So, Mom and Dad in the backseat of the Chevelle," Danny snickered as he joined his brother outside back on the deck late Sunday morning after basic preparations were completed for the Father's Day picnic while they waited for Frank, Henry, Erin and Nicki to return from services and a visit to Peter's grave up in Woodlawn Heights. "Wait until I bust the old man," he continued since neither son had seen their father yet to discuss the eventful week after his late return the previous evening from Seattle. "That reminds me, when are you ever gonna get that damn thing out of Dad's garage? You're not going to leave it sit there under a cover forever, are you?" he challenged, knowing full well that his younger brother was still having a hard time coping with the fact that Mason Malevsky had bequeathed the completely restored vehicle to him as an ongoing reminder of what it had nearly cost them all.

"Live it up, drive it; and screw that effing bastard," he tried to encourage his sibling to put his feelings and fears in the past. "That's all he was trying to do once he knew Dad was gonna find out who hurt you and hunt him down… play some more damn mind games."

"Oh, puh-lease! Jesus, can we talk about something else today, anything?" Jamie begged as he was finding himself stressed with the unknown once more and the waiting for the dreaded call from Arizona was frankly getting to him as he checked his phone messages for the tenth time in as many minutes. "It's not like I could drive it yet, anyway, even if I wanted to with my leg the way it is, and you do realize if someone from the outside was listening in they'd think we were raised by a bunch of car-happy sex-crazed Irish booze hounds," he lamented while focusing on the first point and deliberately skipping any mention of the Chevelle's current proximity to them again as if it had never been brought up.

"This coming from the kid that knocked up his wife on the floor of a cabin in Iceland on their honeymoon after getting her drunk on tequila… pot calling kettle? Oh, man…" Danny conceded to the forced change in conversation and almost doubled over at the thought. "Wait until Kaylin and Joey are sitting around here one day listening to Dad in his rocking chair telling them all these stories about you and Eddie," he continued his unrelenting teasing on purpose to try to lighten his younger brother's mood since it was true that talking about anything other than what he was focused on had to be better.

"You, Linda… backseat of the Studebaker, Grandma Betty," Jamie parred on equal footing.

"Wait, that doesn't count," Danny caught himself in a mid-belly laugh, and cleared his throat. "We've been through that before, and besides, we only went to second base."

"You ever let Jack borrow your car for a date, hmm?" Jamie goaded deliberately as he glared over at his brother for inciting this discussion and bringing in the notion of his kids that way. Turn around was fair play for putting those images in his brain he decided. "What do you think happens back there?"

"Shut up!"

"No, you shut up!" they volleyed back and forth like children themselves again.

"What are you two arguing about already?" Linda broke in with a heavy sigh as she sat down at the patio table and checked her phone for the tenth time in as many minutes.

"Nothing," both brothers replied simultaneously in an attempt to change the subject. "What's going on with you?" Jamie added as he eyed her unusual behavior.

"She's working her sources," Danny revealed as he and Linda were under their own level of stress at the moment as it turned out. "A little birdie told her that someone matching Lise Martinez's description checked into the labor and delivery unit at Mount Sinai a couple of hours ago."

"Marcus's baby… I mean _your_ baby... _the_ baby is coming?!" Eddie corrected and squealed with delight as she joined them while Eva was tending to last-minute food prep with a helpful Kaylin and a napping Joey inside. "On Father's Day? Oooh! That's so exciting! You did manage to work everything out with him, right?" she added hopefully since the subject had been touchy and still up and down over the course of the past few days.

"Yeah, finally," Danny frowned. "We're officially the legal guardians… or almost… well, we should be soon, anyway. He's gonna go there first with his mother after the lawyer calls and do whatever he needs to that makes him feel like the world's greatest dad, take some pictures, sign some papers and then call us to come pick up the kid and raise it," he added with an over-the-top annoyed eye roll.

"What's this? I've got another gg?" Henry demanded as he stepped out on the deck after arriving back at the home and only catching the last part of the conversation. "Girl or boy?"

"Not sure yet," Linda admitted as she couldn't help but take another look at her phone for an update. "She's only at four centimeters."

"Wait, aren't there some kind of HIPAA rules against this sort of thing? Can't you get in trouble for violating the mom's privacy?" Nicki queried as she joined them, only to be met with a sea of frowny, dissenting Reagan faces. "Geez, tough room," she quipped and took her seat.

"I still can't believe it's finally happening!" Linda gushed as she allowed herself to hope that it was true she and Danny would have another child in the home to love within the next few days. "I mean we hardly have anything ready because it didn't look like it was going to go through for so long… just a couple of sets of unisex outfits I bought yesterday, and the basics stuffed in boxes in the corner of our bedroom."

"Oh, if it's a boy and full-term, you're all set," Eddie informed them. "Shop here, and don't bother to get anything else. We have piles of clothing that Mom exchanged, plus everything I got at my baby shower when it finally got rescheduled the other week before he came home from the NICU. Everyone knew he was tiny, but they all bought three months and up for whatever reason and peanut here still isn't even close to that. He can wear his own hand-me-downs once you're done with them."

"Well, you'll have plenty of space when Jack moves out to college later this summer, right? He's still not giving you grief about this, is he?" Henry added practically as he still failed to see any reason why their oldest boy would be so resistant to the notion since he had decided to attend his long-distance second choice of Notre Dame even though he'd been accepted to Fordham University in the Bronx with a higher match and more scholarship opportunities in his preferred program of study in political science. Truthfully though his parents had already determined that had likely been done in protest over the new baby situation which remained a contentious subject in their household.

"We're still in negotiations," Danny confessed. "Please, not today, Pop? We're hoping once the baby is home and he bonds with it that will all go away."

"Humph," Henry could not help but voice his displeasure with that ongoing situation once more as he noted that Jack had deliberately distanced himself off from the rest of them in the middle of the yard and was busy texting on his phone while trying to ignore what was happening. "Francis, did you hear?" he demanded loudly anyway as his son finally followed them out onto the deck with a suddenly wide-awake Joey cradled in his arm. "Better warm up the other side. You're going to have to juggle two of those soon if what we hear through the grapevine is true."

"Always room for another of these little ones," Frank assured confidently as he rocked Joey away. "Found this one crying," he defended even as his daughter-in-law gave him a dubious look that told him in no uncertain terms she wasn't buying into that.

"Was that before or after you pinched him, _Grandpa?"_ Eddie frowned with a new mother's disdain as she had just put the little boy down for a nap after a change and a meal break.

"I can neither confirm or deny that allegation," Frank reported with a wry grin as the corner of his mustache twitched since he had done just about that, unwilling to wait any longer to hold his grandson after being away all week and worried about the state of affairs back home. "Besides, it's Father's Day, sweetheart," he defended against her familiar ire. "That means I get to do whatever I want. Now, what's happening? Danny? Linda? There's good news?"

"No, not yet, it'll probably be awhile," Danny admitted and then frowned when Jamie got up abruptly from his chair and excused himself to go inside without a word to anyone else after grabbing his phone. "Kid's waiting for something else to happen," he explained, not knowing if his dad was aware of precisely what that was.

"I heard," Frank replied sadly as he regretted coming off so immediately chipper to his youngest, although it had been hard to dial that back after the immense relief seeing his own father looking so well, even better daresay than when he had left before the big scare earlier in the week. "I'll go talk to him."

"Let him be, Francis," Henry advised knowingly. "We've been through it. He's got his head on straight now; it's just the waiting that's getting to him."

"Hardest part of any of this," Frank agreed as he relented and took a seat so he could bounce Joey up and down on his knee, a favored activity between the two that resulted in immediate gurgles of happiness from the little boy.

"Gee, Dad, you're a natural at that. Must be the mustache and glasses he likes staring at," Erin observed as she too made her way outside. "Quincy and Annabel just got here," she informed. "They brought some dessert that needs to be mixed and go into the fridge. Jamie's inside talking to them and Eva. Nothing yet."

"Nothing yet," Frank repeated the familiar phrase as he looked down at the happy baby whose only real difficulty to this point after his birth had been his penchant for losing meals all too frequently, although with little other distress associated with it during the day at least. "That's all your mother would say every time I called to check on her when she was due that first time. We hadn't even had our first anniversary yet. Boy, what Mary and I would have given to have one like this back when we were new parents," he admitted as he enjoyed this early time with each of the children immensely. "We're lucky that Erin, Joe, and Jamie came to be at all after you," he accused before looking pointedly at Danny as he thought about the stage his remaining two boys were at in their own family lives. "You never gave your mother or me a moment's peace like this… colicky baby, hyperactive kid, rebellious teenager…"

"Gung-ho Marine and cop," Henry finished for him. "Sound familiar? You're just lucky you had your mother to help out with Danny and the others when they came, especially that first time. She would have been so happy today with a healthy little Joseph Daniel here and knowing there was another on the way. Betty loved her grandbabies..." he remembered.

###

 _"No, nothing yet," Mary sighed in frustration as she put a hand behind the small of her back for support and tried to ease the painful strain after once again being forced to get off the couch and waddle over to the kitchen to answer yet another phone call from her worried husband amid a virtual labyrinth of unopened moving boxes as the newlyweds had only very recently located an appropriate two-bedroom apartment within reasonable distance of the 3-5 precinct that was affordable to a second-year patrolman and a young, determined to be stay-at-home wife and new mother. "Please, dear, this baby has been kicking up a storm all day, he never stops anymore, and I'm just so tired. My back hurts, and it's wearing me out. I swear the minute I feel anything else is happening you'll be the second to know. Your mother is only a few minutes away if I need her."_

 _"But today's your due date, Mary Margaret," Frank argued gently as if that meant his first child's birthday was already a foregone conclusion while he stood in his uniform on the street during a stop at yet another phone booth, much to his temporary partner's chagrin as an older, more experienced family man with three grown kids of his own._

 _"Reagan!" Sergeant Bill Wagner barked through the open window from the car. "Take my advice and leave the poor woman rest now while she can before she takes out a PFA and you miss the whole damn show, anyway! C'mon, we've gotta get back on patrol, or I'll have to give myself a three-day rip!"_

 _"Okay, I've gotta go, sweetheart," Frank conceded nervously although he couldn't help but remind her of a story she'd already heard a hundred times by this point. "You're sure you don't feel any different? Remember Mom said when she had me I came so fast that if she hadn't already been at the hospital, I would have been born on the side of the road. Dad was too late for everything," he worried. "I don't want that to happen to us!"_

 _"Gee, thanks for that vote of confidence right now," Mary replied flatly, clearly irritated as all this standing while the baby had dropped into such a low position was causing terrible muscle spasms in her lower back that had her nearly doubled over. "Goodbye, Frank," she added prior to hanging up abruptly and leaving him staring at a receiver with an empty dial tone before making her way slowly back to the sofa to sink down with a relieved sigh right before an overwhelming urge to pee came over her almost immediately and the doorbell rang insistently just as she managed to drag herself up to her feet once more._

 _"Oh, please wait! Will this day never end? I'll be over there in a few minutes!" she called out, having determined that a trip to the bathroom was a far more urgent matter at the moment than whoever it was bothering her at the door._

 _"It's just me, dear!" she heard Betty's unmistakable chipper voice ring out, and Mary cursed the fact that the Reagan propensity for hovering at the most inopportune times seemed to be inherited. "Don't bother to get up! I have a key! I'll let myself in... Francis sounded worried when he called me before so I decided to come over and check. Are you alright?"_

 _"Just peachy," Mary grumbled under her breath as she shuffled slowly down the hallway towards the bathroom, supporting herself with one hand under her protruding belly and the other against the wall as the baby was large for her at full term, and she was more than somewhat of a slight woman when compared to Frank's substantial six-four frame. "Maybe if you didn't have a linebacker for a son who got me pregnant after our very first married month, then… OW! HEY!" she paused as a double-barreled kick to the ribs and diaphragm left her reeling and searching for breath while leaning her shoulder against the doorway for support. "Niall Reagan!" she cried as it was predetermined in her mind, at least to this point given the constant level of activity within her, that they were having a boy, and their son would be named after her recently departed sweeter-than-pie docile-tempered grandfather who had prophetically passed of pancreatic cancer just months after the wedding when she first learned she was pregnant. "That wasn't nice! Please, don't do that to Momma again, okay?"_

 _"Mary!" Betty fretted, having finally made her way into the apartment before spotting her daughter-in-law standing in obvious distress in the hall and hurrying over to help. "Tell me now, what 'tis the matter?"_

 _"I don't think this baby likes me anymore!" Mary sobbed into her sympathetic mother-in-law's neck as the mental and physical stress of this late stage of pregnancy on a first-time young mother had finally taken their toll and her normally positive outlook on things had become completely puddled. "I've been so tired and sore all day, and now I just know he's kicking me hard on purpose!"_

 _"Oh, no… oh, dear, come now, I promise he's doing nothing of the sort," Betty tried to pacify as she wrapped one comforting arm around the younger woman and attempted gently to lead her back to the living room. "Come and sit; I'll brew some soothing tea while I do a little unpacking for you. Yer just overwhelmed and exhausted, dear, 'tis completely natural. I have been where you are and yet more than a week beyond with Francis. 'Tis the most difficult part now and you will overcome it the moment they place that baby in yer arms."_

 _"I can't yet; I have to hurry to the… OH NO!" Mary wailed, mortified as she mistook the sudden gush and puddle on the floor now soaking both their feet for yet another humiliating experience in what had unfortunately become the norm since her body and very life had been completely taken over by this small, constantly-in-motion alien who would not so much as let her have one hour of peaceful, uninterrupted sleep as of late. "I'm so sorry, Mom! I can't believe I just did that!"_

 _"Oh, Mary, not to worry," Betty smiled as she quickly recognized what had just happened and changed their direction towards the bedroom to help her daughter-in-law clean up and change her shoes before grabbing the already prepared overnight bag. After her first experience with Peter, she had been sure to guide her son's wife back to the midwife practice that had delivered him all those years ago, although her friend Mary Crawford had been forced to leave it in someone else's capable hands before she passed with illness the year before, and that meant a near hour's trip north to Columbia Presbyterian once more. "'Tis not what you think," she assured. "'Tis an answer to yer prayers in fact. That was your water breaking, dear; you are in labor. We must call Henry to send an escort and have Francis paged into his precinct. It's time to go to the hospital and meet yer baby."_

###

"Niall!" Sean giggled before breaking into a big belly laugh. "Hey, Jack!" he called across the lawn to his still stubborn and antisocial brother. "Did you hear that? Grandma wanted to name him Niall Fitzgerald instead!" he continued to taunt Danny. "Detective Niall Fitzgerald Reagan! Ha ha ha!"

"Niall Bríon Reagan, in fact," Frank corrected with a smile as he remembered the events of that stressful day which had seen him arrive home in a panic, lights and sirens, to speed his beloved new wife to the hospital with plenty of time to spare as it turned out since Mary's continued, exhaustive labor had stretched into the night, through the next morning and again almost a full twenty-four hours later to the following early afternoon before they were all blessed with the presence of a nine-pound-nothing, twenty-one inch, loud, bouncing, kicking and crying red-faced little boy who did not in any way, shape or form resemble his good-natured predecessor.

"It meant 'gentle nobleman' and was to honor her athair… Niall Bríon O'Donnell, your great-great-grandfather," he explained.

"Well, then who do I thank for not having my ass kicked every single day after that?" Danny sighed in relief even as this bit of family lore was about to open up a whole 'nother level of worry on the Marcus baby watch, which had since progressed to six centimeters according to Linda's source.

"That would be Grandma Betty," Frank admitted. "Your mother was completely exhausted by that point of course, but Mary took one look at you fighting with the nurses as they tried to clean you up, burst into tears and knew that would never work. She basically ordered me to come up with something on the fly that did, so of course, I turned to Mom. She walked around holding you for a few minutes and thinking, then picked Daniel for the 'mighty one' and well, I guess from what Pop said you know where Fitzgerald came from now."

"Yeah," Danny surmised as he had caught up on the family history lesson earlier in the morning while the Reagan men were told to relax on this, their given holiday. "Huh, so Jamie's named after a bottle of hooch in the liquor cabinet that Mom got knocked up over, and I'm the mighty one with kick-ass Medal of Honor dude… seems about right. Why didn't you tell me that before? Maybe I wouldn't have hated it so much all my life."

"It was on a need to know basis," Frank reminded sadly as he had been told about the plan to open what could only be termed as his late brother's time capsule later that afternoon. "The Irish and their secrets…"

"Hey, lambchop," Eddie interrupted and greeted her husband as he reappeared from inside once more with a scotch tumbler in his hand. "You missed hearing all about Danny's grand arrival and where he got his name from. Makes Joey's birth look like a cakewalk. It's funny… when munchie came out, well a _he_ and not a munchette, I made Jamie come up with a name for a boy too since we didn't have any picked, but I was so tired and full of happy juice and endorphins, he could have named him French Toast, and I wouldn't have cared."

"Yeah, _Joseph Daniel_ … Harvard really went to the well for that one," Danny snarked.

"This is coming from the man who's gonna have to accept what Marcus decides to name his kid," Jamie continued their previous brotherly tiff without missing a beat as he rejoined them from the kitchen a little tipsy from a few more hits of the good stuff. At his request, Linda went in to help Annabel with some tricky mousse for the fancy torte she was preparing with Quincy's expert level help of course since he had volunteered to go back to the store for a forgotten ingredient. "Let's see, I'm going with _Ima Bunny Beale,"_ he snorted. "Named in honor of her mother, of course, the badge-bunny he banged to get to where you are."

"Boys," Frank warned since it seemed requisite in some parental way to attempt to rein them in given the banter that was flying about and the current level of his youngest son's inebriation as he continued his efforts to dull his true emotions.

"Ooh, maybe it'll be _Rhea Genevieve Beale,"_ Jamie continued to taunt in a rather snooty voice. "Eddie actually got that one for real when she tried one of those online automatic name generators over meal break at the 12th when we were making our girl name list. She even showed it to Marcus. Linda will love that one!"

"Knock that off already before she hears you!" Danny hissed with a nervous look over his shoulder before growing in concern as the notion of his pseudo-nephew's immaturity hit him.

"He wouldn't really do that, would he?"

* * *

 _Oh, but he might. Maybe not Rhea Genevieve Beale (? which actually did come up on the first baby name generator I tried, I swear!), but perhaps something equally likely to get under Danny and Linda Reagan's collective nerves. Can we put anything past Marcus right now? Special thanks to Laura Louisa Lewis for her inspiration with the "Bunny Beale" suggestion! That was one of my favorite chapters in this one._

 _Next, a continued sort of light look at Danny's first colicky months, and then on to Frank and Mary's other baby-making adventures as Henry and Betty Reagan's much-loved brood grows in size and grandchildren filled those empty rooms upstairs, including mention of Erin and Joe's arrivals before of course the sad time of Mary's multiple losses when she really needed to lean on Betty for support and understanding while Peter's very existence was still hidden away in a box in the attic. Soon it will be time to wind things down with touching farewells to Grandma Betty and Rigs as we close out this bridging installment seven chapters from now._

 _Please drop a review if you have a moment as it encourages the writers to keep typing. :-)_


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

 _Frank Reagan hesitated just outside the doorway of his small East Bay Ridge apartment on a late Friday afternoon with keys in hand as those now-familiar, unmistakable, unrelenting, piercing cries of a three-month-old little boy could be heard from inside. With two scheduled days off before him plus an eye towards making detective in record time, he had indeed turned his career around and was already very close to the requisite number of high-value collars needed to move ahead. As such, he had recently fallen under the wing of a respected rabbi from the squad upstairs at the 3-5, and for an irrational second once again considered cowardly turning tail to go back to the precinct to volunteer for a few extra patrol shifts over this upcoming weekend under the guise of needed overtime money or whatever could be used as a legitimate excuse to stay away from that now thirteen pound little bundle of… well, no one used the word joy to define baby Daniel Fitzgerald anymore._

 _Demanding, intractable, headstrong and LOUD… those were all terms that were applied to his young son by almost everyone who came in contact with him, from the nurses who sighed with relief after he was released from the hospital nursery to their first pediatrician who blankly informed the exhausted new parents that a child crying for more than three hours in a row (or twelve), on three or more days a week (seven), for more than three weeks (months), likely had colic. Frank had to hold his once serene, loving, and now sleep-deprived, emotionally stripped Mary back from going for the man's throat when he suggested perhaps it was her fault for overindulging the baby and picking him up too often when he fussed._

 _A second-choice had them changing everything from her diet, to weaning, to different formulas, to no avail and was soon likewise dismissed. Now on their third doctor, after first seeking a one with extensive knowledge, they ended up settling for someone who had sympathy for their cause and encouraged them to hang in there, that better days were ahead._

 _Considering the baby's temperament, Frank knew it was fortunate they had picked a second-floor apartment in an old detached brownstone with thick walls and even luckier still—a nearly deaf seventy-something landlord who lived down below or he was fairly certain the little family would have been served eviction papers by now. Putting his head down and summoning a last remnant of patience, he finally convinced himself to do the right thing and turn the key in the lock to enter his home expecting to find his wife still dressed in the disheveled fashion he had left her in and a space that looked like an unfortunate cyclone had passed through it since Mary had little time for anything domestic other than the constant care of an irate infant as of late._

 _Instead, he was surprised by the familiar warm aroma of a hearty Irish stew beckoning him through a living room that was well, clean and inviting with no unpacked boxes about or evidence of laundry to be put away and nothing that appeared out of place. He swore even the throw pillows had been freshened and fluffed on the chairs._

 _"Mary?" he puzzled at this sudden change since the sounds of the baby's cries had also abruptly stopped emanating from the direction of the kitchen, and now he wasn't certain he hadn't accidentally walked into the wrong house._

 _"No, Francis, 'tis me," he heard Betty Reagan's voice instead as she turned around the corner while balancing a wicker wash basket on one hip containing a naked-but-for-a-diaper and suddenly eerily content baby Danny eagerly taking his bottle tucked up among some clean, folded towels fresh and warm from the small washer/dryer set hidden awkwardly at the end of the hall behind a pair of bifold doors which while unattractive had proven to be a godsend._

 _"But what are you… wait, how did you stop him from crying?" Frank managed to stutter out, suddenly afraid that maybe his wife had similar thoughts about running for the hills and had actually acted upon them. "And where's Mary?"_

 _"It's temporary, dear," his mother fluffed. "Just an old Irish mother's trick of putting the baby in the basket with the warm laundry to soothe him," she answered and continued about her business of finally reordering their lives. "And you'll find yer wife in room 204 of the Bryant Park Hotel in the city where yer father dropped her this morning. Hopefully, by now the poor thing's been able to bathe and rest peacefully by herself for more than a few hours so that the two of you can enjoy a nice dinner before the show this evening. When you see her, don't be surprised if she thinks t'was your idea. Now hurry and get ready before yer late… the room is booked through Sunday noon. You can thank yer father for that later, and I'll remind you not to miss services in the morning."_

 _"Room? Dinner and a show?" Frank puzzled, still not catching on to what was happening and feeling like he'd been dropped into a twilight zone. There had been no extra money or a minute of time to splurge on such luxuries for the busy young couple since the move here and the baby's arrival. "Mom, what are you talking about?"_

 _"Francis, Mary has been a very devout mother to this difficult little one since before his birth, but she is also an attractive young woman who wants to feel that way too sometimes. 'Tis plain to see you're not treating her so right now… yer neglecting that with all the hours you've been working while she's been here fending alone. 'Tis about time you do more for her, she has needs too."_

 _"MA!" Frank huffed as any implied talk about his and Mary's sex life, or lack thereof at the moment since sleep had trumped all else of late, was undoubtedly uncomfortable, especially given the fact he was being lectured about not holding up, for lack of a better description, his end of the bargain by his strict-minded Irish Catholic mother._

 _"Yer father and I held our tongues on this matter in the beginning, but you must make more effort when all of this is overwhelming her… even if it's nothing more than dropping Daniel off with me for an hour to take Mary out for coffee to talk or for a movie once a week. You're able to leave here each day and find some peace outside of the house. She's spent her every waking and sleeping moment with your son, save for a reprieve of a few hours. When I come here to help she feels obligated to use the time to keep house instead of looking after herself. T'was your first anniversary a few months ago and you did nothing for it but bring her a vase of flowers that wilted and died as she had a hard time at that point remembering to water them."_

 _"But the baby was less than a month old, and she wouldn't have left him then! Besides, she hasn't been ready to… do anything else…" he trailed off after arguing back weakly, even as the realization that his mother was on point was sinking in. He had been forsaking his beloved Mary more than just somewhat by taking her for granted, and if he went a step further, admitting that he felt a bit jealous at having to share her with someone else who consumed almost every waking aspect of her time. "I guess I just don't know what to do with all this."_

 _"Well, yer father," Betty choked up as the memory that came at that moment was of Henry, not with this son before her, but with Peter on that last day when they spent that time together playing on a swing in the yard. "No matter how hard things were, yer father would come home from a week's work away at the precinct and never fail to see to me needs or take the time to be with his son before all else. 'Tis why our marriage stayed strong through the storms. I know that Daniel is making this challenging right now, but the most important thing a father can do for his children 'tis to love their mother," she quoted gently. "Heed that, Francis. Theodore Hesburg was a very knowing, compassionate priest."_

 _"The Bryant Park Hotel, you say," Frank mused thoughtfully and then felt his heart skip a beat as he pictured his beautiful wife laying there waiting for him with an entire weekend alone ahead to spend with her._

 _"Room 204, dear," his mother smiled as she continued to rock the basket and the baby inside. "We're fine here, sweetheart, now don't fuss. I'll take care of everyone else for you."_

 _###_

"WHOA! POPS! So, you and Grandma set Mom and Dad up with their first post-baby booty call?" Danny just about spit beer out through his nose at the thought before cocking an eye at his father and rolling it deliberately over to the hammock where Eddie and Jamie were sitting sideways with her legs draped over his lap. "I think maybe we should all toss a few bills in and arrange something like that for the kid, he seems a little tense too these days," he baited, knowing full well his brother and wife had been forced to put such things off for much longer than a typical birth would have caused.

"Oh, puh-lease!" Jamie sighed and dropped his head back while Eddie giggled. "Sex-crazed Irish booze hounds," he lamented under his breath into her ear before throwing a sharp barb right back. "You just wait, Danny... you and Linda might have skipped the first part this time around, but pretty soon you're gonna be up for the late-night feedings and diaper changes, so you know what that means. Maybe _you_ should think about getting it while you can."

"Okay, let's keep it civil in front of company and little ears here!" Frank warned gruffly as Eva, Annabel, Quincy, and Kaylin had joined them around the table and he sensed his two boys were only getting started again. "Besides, your Grandmother was right; it is important to remember each other especially there in the beginning when everything else is demanding attention. And if there was one thing Danny knew how to do from the get-go, it was that," he concluded with a frown directed at his oldest.

"So how long did he stay colicky?" Eddie asked with a nervous glance at Joey who had been apprehended by Erin and was now being rocked, cuddled and walked by his aunt since becoming a bit cranky after another reflux episode and forced wardrobe change. "Past three months?"

"No, not much longer than that weekend with his Grandma," Frank recalled. "He started to settle down with the crying right after she left us with that big bottle of what was it… 'gripe water' I think she called it… some kind of brewed herbal tea that settled his stomach. We were supposed to put three tablespoons in a warm bottle of water once or twice a day and give that to him whenever he started up again. I forgot all about that, but it was a real marriage and life saver. Pop… do you remember what was in it?" Frank asked, hoping it would be something that could help with Joey's upset tummy.

"Sugar and Irish whiskey," Henry guffawed at the thought. "Gripe water, yeah that's what Betty called it… she knew poor Mary would never use it if she had a clue what was really in there, but that's all it was poured over the top of some Chamomile tea. The boy had a smile on his face after every bottle."

"In Hungary, we would have used Šumadijski čaj," Eva added tongue in cheek, having also joined the group. "The best is made with good quality rakija, at least 100 proof over caramelized sugar… it is powerful, but Edit's father swore by its healing properties… not that I ever had cause to use it, lány," she assured at Eddie's shocked expression.

"I like Grandma B and E's styles," Quincy chuckled as he had been enjoying the afternoon crash course on Reagan history to this point. "Mine probably did the same thing 'cause I was no angel like this little girl is," he added as Kaylin crawled determinedly up in his lap with a handful of match cards.

"Figures," Jamie just shook his head. "Don't even think about it," he warned his wife to head her off before a beep from a phone on the table a few minutes later had both him and Quincy flinching.

"Just me, just me," Danny assured as he grabbed his device and read the message. "It's okay, alright? Everyone can relax. I sent a text to Marcus, and he said if it's a girl his mom told him to name it after his grandmother… that's Katherine, I think," Danny blew out a relieved breath as the entire family continued to wait for news while enjoying the pleasant weather and company outside. "Not my favorite, but I can live with that."

"Katherine Beale," Eddie repeated and nodded with a grateful look over at her sister-in-law. "Phew! Good going grandma! That's actually kinda nice."

"Yeah, we could definitely work with that," Linda agreed with an uneasy sigh as she sat back and tapped her fingers on the table in a display of some nervous energy. "So, a boy would be Jimmy, obviously. Now, what's better? Katie or Kathy? I wonder which Marcus would go for?"

'Hopefully, it's not Kath-ERIN-e," her sister-in-law pointed out another possibility, still on the double-name kick.

"Girl baby be Katie like me, Kaylin?" a puzzled little voice piped up with the obvious comparison from where she was sitting on her new "Uncle" Quincy's lap and already thoroughly trouncing the young man in her favorite game of puppy match cards as a pair of Pomeranians joined her pile. "Me like boy babies 'stead," she asserted before snatching up another pair. "Match! Me turn 'gain!"

"But Kaylin, girl babies can be nice too. I'm a girl and I love having a little cousin like you now to go shopping with and play dress up with when the boys want to do something stinky like basketball or other stuff like that," Nicki reminded with a smile as all the Reagan women continued to try gently to dissuade this anti-girl baby notion that had still carried over from her misunderstanding during Eddie's pregnancy. "Wouldn't you want someone else like me to do things like that when you grow up?"

"Nope. Joey's nicer 'cept he cries after night-night time, but Mommy say 'cause his tummy hurt then, and it will go 'way soon. Match!" she announced as Quincy hung his head in embarrassment while Annabel laughed at him from across the table, grateful to see that Kaylin was providing such a good distraction at the moment even if it was surely hurting his pride just a little. "Me win 'gain!"

"Geez, Quince, you don't have to _let_ her win every time," Jamie smirked from the side, knowing full well what a challenge it was to beat his daughter and her eidetic memory at her own game.

"I'm not, man; she's real card shark! Glad we're not playing for money, or I'd be begging you for cab fare back by this point," Quincy assured as he tickled the little girl sitting on his lap until she was giggling before standing up with her in his arms, a feat he performed almost without thinking about it now as his muscles and mind were becoming accustomed to his new high-tech, futuristic-looking prosthesis which he was never ashamed to show off as it was today under a comfortable pair of cargo shorts. The one thing Kaylin had gotten past with his help was her fear of such devices, and she paid it entirely no mind anymore on him or anyone else she ran into now that she was familiar with it.

"C'mon, Annie, before they start another story and we miss it," he smiled and also paused to help his girlfriend up, and she rewarded him with a light kiss. "I promised she could finish the cake with us if she won. We gotta go learn how to sweeten and pipe the whipped cream 'cause it needs to chill for another hour before we eat," he advised.

"What the hell are they building in there?" Danny wondered after they left as the Navy SEAL's hidden confectionary talents were obviously being tasked. "Annabel said this thing takes like a whole day of prep time. I'm almost afraid to eat it."

"Chocolate Cannoli Cheesecake Mousse Torte," Jamie informed to a chorus of 'oohs' and 'yums' from around the table. "Somehow, he combines four different desserts into one… brownie, cheesecake, cannoli, and chocolate mousse. He bakes when he's stressed," he shrugged. "They don't call him Cupcake for nothing."

"So, Quincy bakes, and you drink," Danny observed with some concern as he eyed his brother's glass which had been refilled once more, this time nearly to the top. "What? Did Harvard get broken in with Grandma's gripe water too?"

"Ice tea," Jamie assured as he took a long, deliberate sip, having resolved himself to the inevitable once more after a good talk with his new friend. "I'm done, switched over an hour ago when they got here."

"He's really good with kids considering you said he was an only child," Erin observed with a nod back to the kitchen where laughter could be heard through the windows as Quincy was threatening to pipe his special topping on more than just the cake. "A man of many talents. Is he going to take that scholarship up from Hudson now? The gourmet baking one that Rigs made sure was still waiting for him?"

"I hope not," Frank interjected as everyone looked at him with surprise. "My academy CO tells me he's the finest tactical firearms instructor he's ever seen, and that's just with him taking over as an assistant the last couple of weeks with the graduating class. Lieutenant Weber's getting ready to retire next year and hand over that aspect of the program. I've offered to hire Quincy on full-time permanently, so he could be ready to step in, but he hasn't given me an answer yet."

"He's still thinking about things now that he's also involved in the EDP Committee," Jamie revealed. "He said he might want to pursue something in counseling, maybe even go as far as his Master's or look into a degree in physical rehab for amputees instead. One of the other instructors from Rigs' training unit out in San Diego has been hounding him to come back there too, but I don't think he wants to leave Annabel, so he'll probably stick around here as long as she is."

"What about her family? Have they taken to him?" Henry asked while noting the pair had decided to join them on Father's Day here instead of spending time with the Anderson's even though the current Rigs situation probably had more to do with that than anything else.

"Yeah, at least Bill has, not so much her mom," Jamie confirmed. "I wouldn't read anything into that though; her mother's always been kinda tough on any guy she's dated, so it might take a while for her to warm up."

"Well, judging from the way those two look at each other, she better get used to him," Linda observed with a grin.

"So, he's got a lot of decisions to make, and he's taking his time over it," Henry observed as he had become a big fan of Quincy and his easy influence on Jamie and the rest of the family. "Good for that young man. Hope he makes the right one and stays here. Better sweeten the pot, Francis, I personally would like to see him settled, and the NYPD and the rest of us could use him."

"Speaking of warming up and sweetness, do you think Kaylin will ever be okay with another little girl in the family? I wish the name was different now. It didn't even occur to me at first, but it is close to hers, and I don't want to make her feel like she's somehow not as important," Linda worried. "She's just a baby herself, and after everything she's been through... I know that she doesn't understand, unlike my teenager who just needs to get over himself already," she added with continued emphasis and disappointment in Jack's actions evident as she checked her phone once more when it beeped. "Seven, she's up to seven! Shouldn't be long now!"

"Oh, Linda, don't worry about that," Eddie assured. "We'll talk to her… boy or girl, she'll adjust once the baby is here, especially if she can help out a little just like she does for Joey."

"I don't know," her sister-in-law smirked. "She's kinda…"

"Pig-headed?" Danny finished nonchalantly. "What?" he grumbled when eyes rolled, and heads shook at his openly unflattering characterization of his niece. "Oh, c'mon! I'm the poster child for that and not ashamed to admit it!"

"Danny's got a point," Henry acknowledged, much to everyone's surprise, considering the known soft spot he had for his little, adopted great-granddaughter. "I mean if he could get over the fact that Frank and Mary were bringing a little girl baby home from the hospital when Erin was born, well, then dealing with Kaylin should be a piece of chocolate cannoli cheesecake mousse torte."

###

 _"I WANT MY MOMMY NOW!" twenty-six-month-old Daniel Reagan wailed as the afternoon-long meltdown continued and the red-faced toddler, well, toddled as he followed behind his grandfather who was tinkering around the backyard and doing his best at the moment to remind himself that this too shall pass._

 _"Daniel," Henry tried the stern, deep-voiced approach to disciplining the headstrong little boy as he picked him up. "Your mommy's okay, and she'll be home again soon, but not tonight, alright buddy? I'm here. Grandma and your Daddy took her to the hospital this morning because it was time for your little sister Erin Marie to be born."_

 _"BUT GAMPA, ME NO WANT A BABY H'ISTER! SHE'S BAD!"_

 _"Well, now, that's not nice to say, and it's a little too late for that anyway because she's already here. Grandma Betty will be home any minute too, and if you're a good boy she'll make you your favorite special pancakes for supper, how about that, huh?"_

 _"NOOO!"_

 _"Okay, well then I guess you're going to go to bed with your tummy hungry because you know Grandma's rules about eating your supper."_

 _"NOT CARE!"_

 _"Aye yi yi," Henry admitted defeat and although he wanted nothing more than to go meet and hold his newest granddaughter… the first such little baby girl in the family, he knew that was currently impossible considering someone needed to stay home with the upset firstborn who was making such a trip to the hospital to see his parents and new sister a hopeless cause at this point, and there's no way his wife would have been persuaded to miss the event. Unlike Danny's long labor, seven-pound, two-ounce baby Erin Marie had arrived in near-record time, not three hours after Frank had called early that morning to report Mary's water had broken at home. The newest Reagan, with a name meaning "peace" was by all reports already living up to that and determined to be quite the opposite of her brother, bonding with the family as her father busted with pride over his little girl and having given her mother an easy pregnancy all the way up to this point._

 _"Henry?" Betty's voice called from the back door as the recurrent shrieks from where Danny had thrown himself down on the ground and was now on his back kicking at it in a full-blown tantrum left little doubt as to their whereabouts. "DANIEL REAGAN!" she thundered in her indomitable way, immediately silencing the little boy as his grandmother was one of the few people with the power to do that in his life. "Get up from that spot right now and stop yourself, or I'll take yer ear and give you a good reason to cry kneeling in me kitchen!"_

 _"Me 'orry, Gamma," he conceded more softly, knowing full well she meant it, but with crocodile tears full of toddler angst still rolling down his dirty, chubby cheeks._

 _"Come here, child," she softened and sat on the steps welcoming him into her lap. "What 'tis it that's making you this way?" she asked as Betty always had a knack for being able to tap into Danny's emotions, even at this tender age._

 _"Me miss mommy and daddy," he answered although she could tell that wasn't all._

 _"And?" she prodded._

 _"The baby hurted mommy," he revealed while pointing at his own tummy, having witnessed the start of Mary's labor and her first stronger contractions before being dropped off here by his obviously anxious father. "Right 'ere."_

 _"Oh, well, that's natural, dear, all babies do that when it's time to be born," Betty advised. "It's God's way of showing us how much it matters… and you did too, for a longer time than your new little sister Erin."_

 _"I my 'orry! S'not nice, no like 'urting Mommy like that!" Danny answered with guilt even as he calmed down and cuddled in against her side for comfort, his role as family protector already cemented into his personality._

 _"It's alright, child," his grandmother continued to explain as she loved on the little boy and remembered another lost, now again about the same age as the one in her arms. "Sometimes the things we learn to love the most hurt us coming and going."_

###

"Ain't that the truth," Henry concluded as he remembered his late wife's advice and considered the situations facing the family that very day as well as in times past when happy things also brought the sad along with them just as one of the phones laying on the table buzzed with a message that everyone was anticipating with dread.

"Rick says it's over," Jamie confirmed softly as emotion overcame him after he read the brief message and got up along with everyone else to show respect while they surrounded him with Eddie clinging to his side wanting to do nothing more than comfort just as Betty always seemed to be able to do for her greatest loves. "God, he's gone. Rigs is really gone."

* * *

 _So, no surprise there, but a sad day in werks-world as we lose one very much-loved OC but wait to gain another possibly. We're not entirely done with Commander Joel Rigsby just yet though as his service will be honored by a regathering of the cast in the final short epilogue for "Resurgence" and Series II entitled "I See Fire" right after this installment wraps up. Next, though, Jamie and Quincy take a walk, ironically, to sort through their feelings alone together while Betty's further influence is felt when a pair of past tragedies strikes the Reagan family after the original baby Joseph arrives and brings with him some of that joy and sadness we just heard about._


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

"They went out for a walk together to get some air, so dinner might have to wait for a while," Eddie reported quietly as she and Annabel rejoined the family outside once more after some private time alone with their two wounded men in the kitchen to process the news.

"Rigs would probably be happy to hear that, considering," Henry noted as one of the Commander's last wishes it seemed was to stick around long enough to make sure that both Jamie and Quincy had that opportunity again.

"Any other news yet?" Annabel asked hopefully, trying to look for a happier topic of conversation to break the uncomfortable silence and sorrow that had descended on her boyfriend and the remainder of the Reagan family Father's Day celebration for want of another word.

"Eight," Linda admitted as she tried to imagine what was going on. "They're probably moving her into the delivery room, and we won't hear until after the baby's born now because my, um, source is stuck on the floor for now."

"So how long after Erin did Joe come along?" Eddie questioned as she put a hand on her stomach while considering the scrumptious looking chocolate cannoli cheesecake mousse torte chilling in the refrigerator and just how much further back from pregnancy her body still needed to rebound. "I've seen the pictures of Mary from when the kids were young, and even after three so close together she still looked fantastic… I wish I had those genes," she smirked with a sideways glance at her mother who was by all accounts the same petite, trim, feminine self she had always been as long as anyone could remember.

"You do. Perhaps a little less of that terrible Avery's ice cream would help, lány," Eva chided gently as her daughter wrinkled up her nose at her mother's not-so-subtle rebuttal.

"Look, Jamie drinks when he's stressed sometimes… heck, most of the Reagans do, sorry guys I know it's the Irish way… you clean, Quincy bakes… and I eat since I can't do much else right now," Eddie reminded. "It's been kinda tough around here this week, Mom."

"To answer your question, Joe and I were only fourteen-and-a-half months apart," Erin revealed with a laugh as she watched Eddie's reaction shift as her sister-in-law's mind whirred to calculate how many weeks that would truly be in between a pregnant state, not to mention the stress of having two young children to care for on top of that. "I guess since everything went so well with me, she wasn't afraid to try again that soon."

"Brave woman," Eddie acknowledged with a sigh as she slumped into a chair.

"Their mother had a plan, even after Danny… four kids, two of each close in age, and she almost had that," Frank admitted as he thought back and remembered his wife's firm resolve. "What Mary wanted, she usually got… and I knew better than to try to change her mind, but with Joe, not everything happened the way she thought it would…"

###

 _"Mr. Reagan, your wife is in distress, we must call the doctor in immediately," those words from the obviously worried and very experienced midwife struck instant fear into Frank Reagan's heart as he and his mother jumped to their feet in the now-familiar hall outside the room at Columbia-Presbyterian where Mary had been laboring intensively for the last several hours to bring their third child into the world._

 _"What 'tis it?" Betty asked as she sensed from the woman's expression how dire the situation was. To this point, her daughter-in-law had experienced another one of those uncomplicated, carefree pregnancies as she had with Erin and the news that something was obviously drastically wrong now was a chilling reminder to all that the process of childbirth was not without risk and still a danger for both mother and baby alike._

 _"Shoulder dystocia," the midwife reported grimly, as that diagnosis always filled the delivery room with dread. "The baby's head has almost delivered, but the shoulders are somehow either turned wrong or trying to come together and stuck on the ridge of the pelvis inside the birth canal. The cord is being pinched, and we must work to turn him quickly, or he will lack oxygen," she added even as the on-call attending could be seen rushing down the hallway from the regular Labor and Delivery ward to join them. "I must warn you the mother is at risk as well, but this must be done fast, and it will not be pleasant. There is no time to waste," she added firmly as she looked towards Betty, familiar with her nursing background. "Mary is asking for you to be present, but Mr. Reagan, it would be best if you wait outside the hall," she advised even as the cries of distress from inside the room became louder, growing in intensity and his first instinct was to rush inside to be with his wife._

 _"She's right, dear," Betty offered as she paled at the news and put a hand upon her son's chest to block him while the midwife and doctor both returned to the room with urgency. "You won't be of help in there, I'll be with her," she promised as she could clearly read the panic setting in on his face. "Francis, she won't be alone through it, I promise you, but you must let them do this without interference no matter what you hear."_

 _Indeed it was the sound of his wife's sobs that soon turned to primal screams of outright pain and agony that knifed through Frank's heart and reduced his knees to jelly as he sank to the floor with his back to the wall and his head in his hands as Mary was being manipulated with her thighs pressed hard against her belly by three nurses while the doctor applied desperate force on it with his hands to turn the baby inside her. Despite their advice, he remained outside the doorway and listened to his mother's soft voice pleading with her daughter-in-law to remain strong, that God would see her and the baby through this as he prayed for the same and vowed never to risk such a thing again if he would only bring his beloved wife though it once more._

 _"No, he hasn't so much as budged and is turning blue!" the midwife's desperation was palpable. "It must be now to save him!"_

 _"Jesus, Mary, and Joseph be with us!" he heard Betty's fervent plea._

 _"One more time!" the doctor gritted as the process was repeated with the growing anguish evident among all involved and Frank was forced to endure those sounds again until there was something suddenly worse —utter silence—and his heart stopped for several endless seconds as he held his breath and waited, wondering if his life had once again been turned around towards the unthinkable before he heard it—the sound of a firm slap and the soft, almost kitten-like mewing of weak cries from the baby that followed as a nurse rushed out of the room and passed him on an urgent matter towards the newborn intensive care unit with a loose bundle in her arms, never pausing for one second to acknowledge him or let him know if it was a boy or girl, or whether the baby and his wife might survive._

 _"Francis," he looked up in fear with a tear-streaked face to see his mother standing in the doorway in a likewise state. "It's a boy; he's come by the blessings of God," she stated simply as she helped him shakily to his feet and first into one of the available chairs before sitting down next to his side with her arm wrapped around his, gripping his hand with the strength he needed to draw from somewhere. "Mary's bleeding a bit now… they're going to check her and keep careful watch… if it worsens she'll go to surgery to see what 'tis needed, so we must have faith," she advised, and those were the only words spoken for what felt like an eternity as Frank was too numb to move—too shocked to ask the questions he feared to hear the answers for while they stayed still and waited before the doctor came out much later and informed them that despite the circumstances, for now, all was looking well with both mother and son, although it was likely they would be kept a few extra days just to be sure. Frank's emotions were raw as he was allowed in to visit with Mary, now groggy from the exertion, blood loss and a heavy dose of medication while his mother went to check on the baby._

 _"Sweetheart," he smiled as her eyelids fluttered open while pushed some of the hair back from her face and pressed his lips against her skin which was smooth and cool. "You did fine," he assured as she swallowed and tried to rouse herself. "Thank God in heaven, you did fine."_

 _"The b-baby?" she managed to rasp out as she gave his hand a light squeeze._

 _"A boy. He's good right now too… I only saw him for a second, but the doctor just told us that he's doing okay… eight pounds, twenty-one inches and there's no sign of any problems after what happened. Mom's gone up to sit with him while I stay here… you know how she loves her grandbabies."_

 _"I n-needed her to h-help me," Mary admitted as she continued a failing fight against the drowsiness that was claiming her. "He wouldn't come, and I was s-so scared, Frank. She prayed for us… Jesus... Mary and Joseph," she shakily explained as every word came out slower than the last. "I know we picked Conor for a boy, and you had your heart set on that… but I want him… to be Joseph even if s'not Irish," she finished haltingly._

 _"Alright, how about Joseph Conor Reagan then," Frank offered in compromise. "I love you, Mary Margaret."_

 _"I like that," Mary managed a partial smile before she faded away completely for the next few hours. "And love you... more."_

 _###_

"I looked it up after Joey was born," Eddie reported. "Joseph means 'God shall add another son,' so I guess it was a perfect choice. And they were both okay after that?" she added and considered her own somewhat scary delivery while giving thanks it was nowhere near as dangerous.

"Yes, well, we thought so anyway," Frank remembered. "The doctor said that Joe just hadn't turned all the way at first, and it happens sometimes, but it's rare… he wasn't overly big or long overdue, so we were just thankful that he was born where he was, and the staff knew what to do about it. It wasn't until much later that we discovered where the real damage had been done… that the small tear he left on Mary's cervix from his coming out wrong would have worse consequences in the future when we weren't expecting them."

"That was about a year-and-a-half or two later," Henry recalled. "After Joe's scare, Francis, I thought you were about done adding on to your family."

"I was," Frank agreed with a nod. "I never wanted to live through something like that again. We had three healthy kids, but just a three-bedroom apartment. Joe's crib was in an alcove off our room and by that time I was first-grade, making decent pay and looking to move up to Major Cases as my next step forward. I wanted to find a house where we could put down our roots like Mom and Pop did here. Mary though… she still had this notion that we had a place to fill at the dinner table and she talked me into one more. She got pregnant again right after Christmas and that spring we started looking at places we could afford. Found one in South Brooklyn around Sheepshead Bay that needed a lot of work and we were thinking of putting an offer in on it when I got a call at work one morning... Mary had started bleeding pretty badly, and Mom was taking her to the hospital, one of the neighbors stayed with the kids. She was almost fifteen weeks along at that point, past the danger part they told us, and we had started to relax. By the afternoon they were sure she had already lost the baby sometime in the week before because there wasn't a heartbeat anymore, so they told us it was just one of those unfortunate things and did what was needed to be done to help her," he sighed before offering an understatement. "She was devastated."

"I'm sure," Eva commiserated as she recalled her own experience with a similar loss before Eddie.

"I hate that phrase, 'one of those unfortunate things,'" Linda agreed as she remembered what had her sitting here this day on edge waiting for Marcus Beale's illegitimate love child to be born so she could go and snatch it up to hold and cherish as her own in some desperate act of aging maternal instinct. "Like that's all it is... oh well, too bad, just forget about it and move on."

"Didn't work that way with Mary either. She lost interest in things for a while as she grieved and came to terms with it, so we passed on that house before life got back to normal again… almost," Frank frowned. "Danny was going to start kindergarten that fall, and when the time got closer to what would have been the baby's due date, Mary got to thinking again… just 'one of those things' they'd said, so we decided to try one more time never imagining that lightning would strike twice like that, but it did," he admitted sadly. "We made it to fourteen weeks that October when the same thing happened again. This time though the baby wasn't the only thing we lost, and if it hadn't been for Mom, I don't know that we would have ever gotten Mary back. She was depressed... deeply depressed when the doctors told her to go home and take care of the children she had and be grateful for them, that she would never carry another baby to term because of the damage from when Joe was born… an incompetent cervix they called it, and it made her feel like an incomplete woman. She took to bed for more than a week, and there I was with three young kids and a huge promotion on the line. I didn't know how to help her."

"Neither did we," Danny admitted. "I was the oldest… I didn't know why she was so sad at the time, but I knew something awful had happened when she had to stay overnight at the hospital, and Dad told me there wasn't going to be another brother or sister again."

"Betty did," Henry continued. "You didn't know it at the time, Francis, but she'd been in that dark place over Peter too. Sharing that… letting Mary know that someone else understood what it was like to lose a child and feel like it was too much to take… that was as hard on your mother as anything else."

"Wait, so Mom knew then?" Erin started in surprise as she caught onto that revelation and a shocked glance at Frank was mirrored back. "And she never told Dad he had a brother for all those years?"

"No, she kept Betty's confidence," Henry confirmed. "Just like I did. Now, Francis, don't be angry at either of them... they needed each other. Your mother was a strong woman, but that was something she just never could face in the open herself, not even at the end after her heart attack. I wanted her to talk to you then and try to make you understand why she'd kept it from you, but she still couldn't bring herself to do it after all those years. The fact that she spoke to Mary should tell you how desperate she thought things were. I'll never forget that morning when I dropped her off at your apartment to watch the children while you went back to work for the first time afterward. She took one look at her daughter-in-law that day after you left and ordered me to bang in myself so I could take Erin and Joey home with me after I dropped Danny off at school. She was afraid of what was next because Mary was just a shadow of herself…

* * *

 _So, Betty's made up her mind to let her secret out, and her daughter-in-law apparently took the message to heart and decided to keep it to herself through the rest of her marriage. Next, we have a look back on that day that turned Mary around as a couple of grayhairs decide a little more tinkering in their son's family life was in order._


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

 _"Francis," Betty's soft, but hurried voice greeted her son as soon as he opened the door in response to his parents' prompting. "I'm sorry for the delay, the Studebaker is needing a repair. Go on now before 'tis late, yer father's detail is waiting downstairs, they'll take you into the precinct first in case I need your car and then come back for him while we get Danny ready for school. How is she this morning?"_

 _"About the same," Frank replied with heavy sadness and worry evident as his mother touched his downturned face with her hand before unwrapping her scarf as Henry brushed by with a supportive clap on the shoulder. "Mom, I don't think I should leave today."_

 _"Nonsense," Betty assured as she removed her coat. "I'll be with her, and the children need to see things going back to normal. We'll be fine here, sweetheart, now don't fuss. I'll take care of everyone else for you."_

 _"Your mother's right, Francis," Henry agreed while his wife made her way back to the bedroom to check on Mary. "I know this has been hard for you too, son, but I could only push off that interview with Richardson for so long. He knows the gist of why you needed this personal time, but he has to make a decision on who he wants to bring into Major Cases soon. Go down and talk to him and then get a few things cleared off your desk at the squad before you come home. I don't want you out on the street yet."_

 _"Yes, sir," Frank acknowledged before returning to the kitchen to say goodbye to his children who were seated in various stages around the table from five-year-old Danny on his own chair feeding himself dry cereal with a cup of milk on the side, because that's the way he liked it, to three-year-old Erin in a booster seat making a mess of her muffin while trying to feed her baby doll and little Joey at two in a highchair waiting impatiently to spoon-feed himself the oatmeal which had been forgotten and was now cooling on the stove. "Goodbye, Daddy loves you," he kissed each one on top of the head. "I'm going to work today, but Grandma Betty will be home this afternoon when you get back from school, okay, buddy?" he assured his oldest who was the most upset and insecure with the events of the week since the others were too young to notice. "She'll probably make your favorite cookies for your snack if you ask nicely."_

 _"Me 'elp her with Jo-Jo," Erin agreed excitedly while clapping her hands in delight, there was nothing the little girl loved more than baking with her grandmother and licking the bowl._

 _"Want mommy to make 'em 'stead," Danny muttered sadly. "She doesn't come out to see us anymore."_

 _"I know, bud," Frank agreed as ruffled Danny's hair. "She'll feel better soon though, I promise," he added with a false conviction before offering his father a grim smile and a silent thank you bump on his arm before leaving._

 _"Okay, slugger, so what are you planning to be for Halloween this year?" Henry started some light conversation to keep Danny's attention off his father's departure. "That's coming up, what, next week, isn't it? None of that nonsense about being a smoke eater, right? I'll let you borrow my slapper again if you want to be a cop like last time. Or how about a baseball player like the Yankees number 54, Rich Gossage? I bet he'll be a Hall of Famer one day."_

 _"Army man, like Daddy was," Danny replied instead. "He showed me pictures."_

 _"Oh, he did, huh?" Henry was surprised to hear that although Frank had been more open about his experiences lately as time passed and healed some wounds. "Well, then you have to get it right son… Daddy was a Marine, just like I was. If there's one thing you need to remember about that, it's Army stands for 'Ain't Ready to be Marines Yet,' understood?"_

 _"Yes, but Grandpa, Sister Marie says we're not supposed to use 'ain't,'" Danny returned with a puzzled look on his face. Grownups were always so confusing._

 _"Mommy and Daddy say I a 'rincess," a precocious Erin added as her mind was already made up. "And Jo-Jo be my pum'kin to go to the ball," she decided._

 _"Oh, alright," Henry laughed at the thought of the little blond boy and his sister dressed like that before catching sight of Betty hurrying back down the hallway._

 _"Henry," she motioned him over urgently. "You must take the children and go home, now."_

 _"What?" he asked as the smile fell from his face and he glanced with concern back to the bedroom. "What's wrong? She's that bad?"_

 _"Yes, I need to talk to her," Betty insisted. "She's losing herself just like I did when… the children mustn't hear what needs to be said! Please, Henry, take the day with them while Danny is in school, and Francis is away!"_

 _"You're sure? But, if she knows it might not be something that she can keep from her husband," he warned before conceding after she gave him that look he knew so well and he pulled her in close for a hug and kiss on the cheek. "Alright, my love, you know best."_

 _"I know what needs to be done. Come and get Danny ready for school. I'll feed Joseph and wash the babies up to have them ready to go while I make some breakfast for her," she added before doing just that and waving goodbye to her husband and grandbabies when they soon departed. With firm resolve, she gathered up some things and made her way back down the hall._

 _"Mary, dear… I've brought you some tea and toast with your favorite apricot preserves," Betty advised as she set the tray down on the nightstand and pulled the drapes open to let the morning light in the room for the first time in more than a week. "You have to get up and eat now. Francis said you've stayed in bed and have barely taken in anything since you've been home. You must get your strength back."_

 _"I can't," came the forlorn reply._

 _"You must," the Reagan matriarch reiterated with a sigh as she sat down on the bed and searched for her daughter-in-law's eyes which remained dull and averted. "Sweetheart, I know 'tis hard to see now that your heart is broken for this one, but there are three here that need their mother. You must think of them, 'tis what will get you through, believe me."_

 _"I know, but I miss him so much…" Mary whispered as she lay on her side clutching a pillow to cover her achingly empty belly and made no effort to comply. "No one else understands."_

 _"I do, my dear, more than you can know," Betty assured sadly as she took her hand. "That is why I'm here today; you need someone who does understand to talk to. Tell me what yer feeling… the very worst of it… the things you think you cannot say aloud, not even to yer husband. No one else will know, I promise you, and it must come out."_

 _"It won't help."_

 _"Yes, it will. A family is held together by its secrets, Mary, but this can not be one of them. I know where your mind is… you want to be with him no matter because your heart hurts so, those are your thoughts, aren't they? You must speak to someone, if not me then I'll fetch Father Campion."_

 _"I knew it was a him all along you know…" the younger woman deflected instead, unable to admit how dark her heart had indeed become. "Last time I was sure it was another girl, but we couldn't see the baby because of... what they had to do... but this time he was there, and his heart was still beating inside me. He wanted to live! We held him, Mom," she cried hard as had been happening all week long at the mere mention of her loss as despite all efforts and hopes her labor could not be halted, and she had given birth to a still baby that had passed in the meantime. "You and me and his daddy... we held him after they wrapped him up for us and he was so very tiny, but perfect just like the others."_

 _"Yes, he was," Betty agreed as she thought about the little one they'd said hello and goodbye to all at the same time and wondered if that had been such a good idea now as it was obvious her daughter-in-law was having a far more difficult time coping with this loss than the previous one, although she was sure that it had been more what they were told afterward which had devastated the young woman and reduced her to this. "It t'was just not his time to be with us, sweetheart. I know you are not ready to go there yet to visit, but Henry and I saw to it that he was buried in the Holy Innocents section of the cemetery by the church with so many others including your last. Their souls are safely at peace there, and they'll be yer forever angels now, Mary. That's how you must think of them."_

 _"I've tried. Frank said the same... that we have to be thankful for the three we have, and that Joey is with us at all after what happened, but I can't forget or seem to lift myself out of bed in the morning. You heard them say it was my fault. I failed them… as their mother, I failed to keep them safe!"_

 _"No, t'was not your fault, and there is no blame to harbor. I heard them say it was a weakness in your body you can't control, dear… not in your spirit or your heart. A mother will always have regrets when something happens to their own. What you're feeling… the sharpness will fade. I promise you."_

 _"You don't know that. I've prayed for help but cannot understand the reason behind this!"_

 _"I do," Betty insisted as her eyes welled up and ran over at the familiar pain she was witnessing. "Now, you must promise to keep a secret because no one left among us except for Father Campion knows, not even Francis, dear, but I was in the place where you are now. I am missing one as well, and I searched for answers that tested my faith. Had it not been for Henry and the comfort I took in another child, all might have been lost, but I will not let that happen to you. In this family, we will carry this weight together now, alright? Let me tell you a story about my Peter Christopher and a box hidden away in the attic of our house…"_

###

"She knew about the box too?" Frank asked gruffly as he looked around the table, overcome with the emotion at the news. "And it was still there after all this time?"

"Yes, Danny found it up there the other day," Eddie revealed. "Pop remembered where it was after he told me the story about when they moved. We were going to open it after dinner since it's the anniversary today…" she trailed off wondering now if that had been the right decision given the mood of things now.

"I always wondered what Mom said to Mary that day to turn her around," Frank murmured. "It didn't happen right away, but at least she got out of bed and started eating. Not too long after that, we talked, and she told me it was our responsibility to make sure another baby did not suffer the same fate, so we decided there would be no more and kept with our faith to avoid any future ones for that sake, then soon after the house on Harbor View came up for sale and it was perfect for us at the time."

"Yeah, four bedrooms," Danny sighed as he recalled the move out of the cramped apartment and into the expansive house. "We each had one of our own, and a yard to play baseball in and it was great for the next couple of years until the kid beat the odds and came along," he smirked across the table at Erin and remembered that brief time after Jamie was born that they were forced to room together before the addition could be built.

"So, Grandma was with Mom for everyone's births except for Jamie's. She stayed here at the house with us and Grandpa went with Dad to the hospital. How come?" Erin wondered.

"She was also there for those last two losses," Henry reminded. "Burying those babies rocked her to the core, and she worried about Mary that whole pregnancy while she laid on that couch trying to bring Jamie to term. Things looked really bad that night, and Betty knew from the get-go that they were headed straight into surgery at St. Vic's this time because it was the closest. Honestly, she was shaking too hard to drive, and by that time her eyes weren't the best in the dark… that's why I went. Nothing could have held her back the next morning when we knew both Mary and Jamie were going to be okay. Her first stop was the cemetery though to light two candles for the ones that came before."

* * *

 _Perfect, except for the fact there was still one more place at the table and another missing bedroom to fill, and that came about a little later thanks to an unforgettable Valentine's Day night and a bottle of Jameson Irish Whiskey. For more on Jamie's arrival and some more of the fun that ensued with the Reagan foursome after his birth, you can read (or reread) the first five prequel chapters in the original Snapshots collection in my profile_

 _Next in this one, Jamie and Quincy have wandered the streets of Bay Ridge a bit trying to get a handle on their own emotions, and after a visit to that same cemetery find themselves standing outside of that very perfect house on Harbor View Terrace where it was time to put a few ghosts of their own to rest before heading back to join the picnic for its conclusion in memorable fashion._

 _Be still my heart, Jamko fans! Things are looking interesting for our pair in the S8:18_ _Friendship, Love, and Loyalty epi airing tomorrow night! Let's all hope those BB writers don't crush our hopes again or FF will be very busy making up for it!_


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

"This is the place you grew up?! Holy crap, dude… like my Gram's whole apartment building could fit in there," Quincy marveled as he and Jamie stood out on the street in front of Frank and Henry's house. "Your family should have adopted me a little sooner," he kidded since the Reagans had taken to welcoming him as if he were their own lately.

"Yeah, well, I could have used another brother on my side to go up against Danny at dinner every week after Joe…" Jamie trailed off without finishing. "You want to go in and sit down for a bit?" he asked as their little walkabout, which had included an impromptu stroll through the nearby cemetery to pay their respects to Betty, Mary and Joe, had become taxing on his leg and he could only imagine Quincy's was the same.

"Naw, I'd feel a little funny, man. I mean your Dad's kinda my big boss right now. Be like putting up my boots in the General's tent while he's not there, you know? Maybe some other time."

"Your boss... so does that mean you're planning on staying at the academy?" Jamie asked hopefully since it would give him an opportunity to see his friend more often. "The other day when we talked you were thinking of maybe leaving the job for school full-time because of what Rigs wanted."

"Yeah, he made me promise to get my education square," Quincy agreed. "I still want to… I mean I gotta, right? I just don't know what direction to go for sure, and I hate to admit it myself, but I kinda dig being the instructor everyone's afraid of with the rep for being a hardass, just like he was. Some of that musta rubbed off on me," he grinned a little sadly as he thought about his mentor. "Plus, Annie's here, and she's not even off probation yet. I don't want to mess with things or try to do something long distance… kinda dig her too," he admitted sheepishly. "Never met anyone like that before."

"Really? Wow, no one would have _ever_ guessed," Jamie mocked in a faux, shocked voice with a smile returned at the good-natured teasing. "You could do it all maybe," he advised as he sorted things out. "Stay on as the shooting instructor for the next year at least and pick up a few general ed classes at Hudson or John Jay at night until you have more time to decide what you want to major in while you see how things go with Annabel. I could sure use your input on the EDP committee now that Rick moved away, and I think even Rigs would be okay with that plan."

"Yeah, like I'm keeping all my options open for now," Quincy agreed. "Not bad, Ice. You're a good big brother."

"Had lessons from the best," Jamie acknowledged with a smirk. "If Joe hadn't made me stick it out at Harvard that last year after Mom died I'd be screwed without my law degree… never would have been able to stay with the NYPD after I got hurt and the FBI wouldn't have been interested in me either."

"Not so sure of that after the way you figured all that shit out and took down Wendell to save Kenzie's study. Can't believe the Feds were going to let her hang for what he did," Quincy offered angrily.

"That's part of the reason I was happy to stay here instead of getting mixed up in other ops with them like that where I didn't have a choice… at least my Dad hates playing politics, and that's all it really was. Wendell was a weasel and a swindler, but he was a small fish... sure he rigged some of the studies and paid a few people off, but in the end, the technology actually worked better than he thought it would, so he didn't have to do that. The people behind it were really after Kenzie's Rear Admiral uncle and were trying to get him out of the picture to cash in on other stuff themselves, so they set her up and used Wendell as a smokescreen to do it. I'm really glad she's going to be able to keep up with the work. Rick said she should have the new surgical clinic totally set up out in Arizona by the start of the year so that it won't set her back too far."

"That's good," his friend agreed as the small talk died down while they continued to loiter on the sidewalk in front of the house. "I'm supposed to fly out there next month for a checkup and didn't want to find her working out of a basement somewhere. You know, neither one of us would be standing here without her… speaking of which, maybe you should sit down on the steps here for a bit," he worried as he could see his buddy might have in fact overdone things and was starting to shift uncomfortably on his feet.

"How did you get over it?" Jamie asked instead, his unease not so much physical as mental while he stared past the main building itself to the garage where the rebuilt Chevelle had been sequestered undercover. To this point, he had not been able to so much as acknowledge it was in there without breaking into a sweat at the thought of setting himself up for a familiar pattern of wicked dreams.

"Get over what… being blown up?" Quincy followed along haltingly, noticing his friend turn pale and sensing his demeanor had shifted before putting the pieces together as he realized where his attention was drawn.

"You're always so positive," Jamie explained, even as his gaze remained transfixed. "Even after all you've gone through getting hurt and then all the crap with the lousy doctors… my Grandpa, Dad and Danny have more PTSD than you do; hell, so do I. You never seem to have nightmares about it, at least none that I've ever heard. Loud noises don't trigger it… you're a shooting instructor for Christ's sake… You had your leg taken off by an IED while saving your buddy and I'm afraid of a damn car parked in a garage."

"Well, it's not like I'm too worried about running into another roadside bomb on a street like this," Quincy fell back on humor while noting the exclusive neighborhood before growing serious. "It wasn't always like that, Ice. I had my dark days in the beginning too," he admitted. "Probably the worst was when my Gram died about six months after I shipped back stateside, and I figured no one was left to give a damn about me anymore. Started hoarding some pills and planning my own exit strategy if you get my drift."

"Really?" Jamie looked over in surprise, never imagining that Quincy would have ever considered such a thing.

"Yeah, until I got a call and a visit from an SOB old Commander of mine. I don't know how Rigs knew, but he did, you know? After all the guys he put through training all those years, I didn't even get why he remembered me, and I was still in Washington at the time. He took leave and jumped on a transport to fly out from San Diego himself that night to come see me. Got in at like four in the morning and bulled his way through the staff to get to my room. Probably scared the shit out of them. Told me I was not gonna ring that bell and quit on him if he had anything to say about it and that he would kick my ass out of that bed himself if I ever even thought about checking out early again," Quincy revealed as his eyes burned at the memory. "Woulda done it too, knowing him. I really needed that. Stayed with me for a few days and never let me forget he was watching afterward. That son of a bitch! I wanted to do the same thing for him this week, and I didn't!" he cursed and admitted with heavy regret.

"Me too," Jamie agreed with equal guilt. "Except, I don't feel like he went early or looked for an easy way out... if anything he held on longer than most because wanted to see us through and didn't want us to know what it had cost him to do that."

"Too damn stubborn to die without getting his way first," Quincy agreed. "I was more afraid to let him down by going out there… kinda think maybe you need the same thing right now though."

"What?" Jamie puzzled since he was, in fact, standing there on his own hard-fought for leg.

"Someone that threatens to kick you in the ass unless you get your shit straight over that car," Quincy warned. "It's not like I don't got the means anymore," he added with a smirk and pointed down to his new high-tech prosthesis. "Think of me as some kind of titanium kung fu master now... I'm serious, son," he reiterated at the end in a menacing voice akin to that of Rigs when Jamie laughed.

"It's just a car," he sighed and tried to sound convincing.

"No, it's not… it's something that nearly took your life, but it's also part of your family's history. If it was just a car, you could sell it or give it away without a second thought, but it's still sitting there in that garage. You've got all that rolled up together in your mind, but all you see when you think about it right now is your brother behind the wheel before it hit you and how it represents all the pain and fear you went through over that and his death too just like that effing Malevsky wanted. You're letting him win with those mind games, Ice, so you gotta get over that and remind yourself of the rest it stands for," Quincy insisted as he started to move towards the garage while Jamie remained rooted in place. "C'mon, I want to see this sweet ride for myself."

"Quince," Jamie balked at the thought with a dry mouth even though practically the same words had come out of Danny's mouth that morning.

"Open it, Reagan!" Quincy barked at full voice as he approached the door. "I'd do it myself if I knew the fancy-dancy damn code on this box," he pointed to the keypad. "Don't get me arrested for breaking and entering now, probably won't look too good on the top of my NYPD résumé considering it's the PC and the ex-PC's house!"

"Alright, alright," Jamie sighed in concession as he walked up to join him... what the hell, maybe it was time to face this after all even as a cold wash of sweat started beading up and his heart rate kicked up a notch as the anxiety returned. "Geez, keep your khakis on. You _are_ a real hard ass, you know," he covered nervously as he unlocked the door and pulled it up.

"Learned from the best."

Even with his newfound weak resolve, Jamie was still thankful to see that his father had parked the vehicle straight on into the garage so that the first thing evident to him was the shape of the trunk underneath the heavy fabric and not the business end. Maybe he could do this after all.

"Let's go! What are you gonna do, just stand there and stare at the cover?" Quincy prodded in his best Rigs'-esque drill sergeant voice. "Pull it off and let's see what's really underneath!"

Despite that, Jamie made no effort to move at first. He tried to hide the fact that his hands were perspiring by wiping them on his shorts, but he nervously chewed his lip as his anxiety level crept up to yet another level. _Get a grip, Reagan. It's just a car_ ; he told himself as he tried to control his breathing. _A car that you and Joe once loved. Mason isn't here anymore. No one's going to use it to run you over again or mow down your family in the street._ He had been waging this internal battle ever since his father had pulled out that title and the paperwork that Malevsky had left for him while he was sitting there holding his newborn son in the hospital, but now he finally had to face the damn thing once and for all. Despite having several weeks to think about it, Jamie had no idea what he was going to do beyond this point.

"I guess I just need to get this over with," he relented finally as he pulled the right-hand corner of the cover up before stopping still again for a moment, staring at the back of the Chevelle until his shoulders slumped. He stepped to the side and trailed his hand over the infamous mark that Danny had left when he had purportedly tried to run Erin down by backing into the garage, and the two tried to cover it up with nail polish. It was still there. This was the same car. His fingers traced the familiar imperfection and stayed in contact to brush the side while he unveiled it and continued to walk forward before tossing the cover aside as he stood in the front. Much closer now than in his dreams, but it remained silent. The headlight that shattered when it had done the same to his leg while leaving telling glass shards scattered around his body in that street in Washington was whole and now likewise in one piece. There was no one else sitting in the driver's seat mocking him with an evil laugh. It was quiet and still.

"Ooh, baby… now _that's_ what I'm talkin' about," Quincy commented in an effort to break the silence that had descended upon his friend as he joined him up there. "This is a mighty fine ride, Ice, even if your momma never thought so."

"Yeah," came the only comment from Jamie's tight throat as he grabbed the extra keys out of the space behind the wall cabinet where they were always hidden before unlatching the hood and raising it up, his hands automatically finding the support rod to prop it open with. He leaned down and admired the beauty of the old engine once more. God, it was clean. He might have been a psychopath, but Mason had surely known his way around this car. Jamie's hands carefully traced over the motor, _pure mechanics_ ; he thought. _Not a computer to be found._ Satisfied that it was in running order, he dropped the hood with a heavy bang and walked over to the driver's side door, hesitating to glance at Quincy for a moment with an obvious direction to get into the passenger side before pulling it open and slipping into the seat. His hands lovingly caressed the steering wheel. Joe's car. It would forever be Joe's car to him, and maybe Gerry McLaughlin's dream to his father.

 _"She looks great," Frank had said. "Joe worked two jobs that summer for the extra money. He found the engine in Rochester."_

 _"Thanks," Jamie replied. "Yep, restored it from the ground up."_

 _"Yeah. I never could figure out why he loved this car so. He wasn't even born when I bought it."_

 _"Number one, it's an awesome car," Jamie had laughed, never guessing the true long-held providence behind its place in the family. "Number two, it was your car. None of us wanted to be more like you than Joe did."_

Jamie's eyes began to tear up as he remembered the end of that conversation. He had been fishing for more details about the Blue Templar from his father.

 _"That night. To me, it's like a movie in my head. But with deleted scenes. Joe was hitting a location, right?"_

 _"Brooklyn South."_

 _"Just like dozens of other times?"_

 _"Yeah," Frank had replied, caught up in the memory. "Except this time the perp rabbited. Joe could run," he smiled. "Chased this guy down. Another perp comes out of nowhere and shoots Joe. Four times."_

 _"And the two perps?" he had questioned, already knowing that there was more to it than his father had ever suspected._

 _"What do you think? Our guys returned fire. Dead at the scene. The Warrant Squad is a great unit. A strong team, early tours, a lot of overtime. But every time you hit a door, you need an angel on your shoulder. You should have the car," his father had paused. "Take her home," he shrugged. "Since I became police commissioner, they drive me everywhere."_

Jamie put his head down on the wheel and just plainly bawled for several minutes in front of his friend who stayed silent through that with a hand resting comfortably on the back of his shoulder as all the pent-up emotions of the last months finally released and poured forth in a torrent. Joe had been the angel on his shoulder throughout this terrible ordeal. He had warned him and given him the strength to do what needed to be done to protect the family. Rigs had done the same to help him restore his life and bring Danny home safely. That part of it was over. They were both gone. It had never been Mason Malevsky's car, it would always be Joe's or Gerry's by extension, and it was finally time to take her home. He leaned back and pulled his wallet out of his pocket, fishing around for a few seconds before he located a somewhat tattered picture of his brother… the one that used to be shoved in the brim of his hat when he was still on patrol. He fingered it for a few seconds while showing it to Quincy and then pulled the visor down before sliding it into its new place of honor.

"That's a mighty fine way to remember him," Quincy agreed, relieved to see that Jamie had been able to have this moment. "Your brother would be proud of you. I'm gonna have to figure out the right way to do that for Rigs too. He'd want more than a rifle volley and a round of Taps at Arlington."

"You getting up on your feet again was everything he wanted to see," Jamie assured. "When you first started, you couldn't stand up for three seconds or walk for more than two steps," he reminded. "Keep proving yourself and inspiring other people like me, Quince… be like him, train good cops and soldiers… that would be enough for Rigs. Besides, knowing Annabel, she'll have you in tip-top form soon, and you can really show off… maybe even beat me in a race," he challenged subtly thinking about that St. Jude's marathon still on his bucket list in a year or two's time.

"Probably right about that," Quincy grinned. "I'm tellin' ya, that woman's a firecracker."

"Aren't they all," Jamie agreed as he remembered his wife who would no doubt be worried about their extended absence by now. "We should get back. Ed's probably called the 1-9 and put an APB out on us because Danny's driving them crazy whining about his hunger pangs."

"Maybe he's even a daddy again by now."

"Uncle," Jamie corrected in deference to Marcus' stipulations.

"Whatever, the kid's gonna know who his true father is, even if it's not by blood and he don't have that official title, especially on a day like this," Quincy trailed off before his voice finally broke with that realization of the true relationship he shared with Rigs. "I miss him, Ice."

"I know you do, Cupcake. He'd be proud to know you think of him that way."

"So, we doin' it? Walking or riding?" Quincy asked after taking a few moments to compose himself. "Wasn't this one of your PT goals, to drive stick again? You up for it? 'Cause if not, I'd be happy to take over," he grinned as he tapped his new left leg. "Been a while though, Annie's got a push and point Prius, so I might be tough on the tranny," he admitted.

Jamie smiled through the tears as he slipped the keys into the ignition and the heavy motor rumbled to life as he pushed the clutch in with his left before putting the car into reverse and feathering the gas pedal and brake with his injured right... a dexterity he had not yet trusted with the Mustang so had been regretfully forced to trade it in favor of a more car seat-friendly although less fancy-schmancy than Eddie's automatic crossover that was safer for him to drive for now especially that there were two children also to consider. This, though was "just like riding a bicycle," he commented as he carefully backed down the drive into the street before putting it in first. "What the hell, it's only two blocks and if I wreck it, I know where to find the parts," he joked, given that's how Danny had finally managed finally to track down Mason and bring that situation to a head.

"And if you crash it, Kenzie can put us back together again," Quincy agreed as he put his sunglasses down and sat back with his arm comfortably resting on the open window. "On Jeeves," he directed. "I could get used to this."

"The boys have been gone a long time," Eddie worried back at the house as she patted a gretzy Joey on her shoulder searching for an elusive burp without return fire. She glanced at her watch before looking up in surprise and then grinned as she first heard then watched a certain blue car carefully pull alongside the house and into the backyard in front of the shed that was destined to become its new garage. Jamie was sporting the mega-watt smile she hadn't seen in a while, and he was laughing as he rolled the window down.

"I'll be damned, the kid finally did it," Danny huffed in surprise as Frank looked on with a satisfied nod, unsure to this point he had done the right thing by bringing the Chevelle home to the family once again.

"Made it!" Jamie announced. "Bet you thought we were going to be late for dinner!"

* * *

 _Ah, so those BB writers are still giving us FF Jamko buffs job security, at least for a few more weeks, lol. Carrying on... So, the Chevelle is back in its rightful place with Jamie now, just like at the end of "Resurrection." Check. Series I and II will sort of merge after a short epilogue to follow this in order to start Series III as we have the major characters at somewhat the same point in time with the car, house, kids, jobs, and whatnot, and I cannot keep them separate in my head anymore without getting a little nutty. Any OC references and other changes will point back to the second group of stories since they are fresher, and some plots have been developed in this one to carry on, particularly with Eva and the Danny/Linda/Marcus/baby saga which will continue to play out. Speaking of which, is there news yet? The Reagans continue to wait as a box is opened next and the final story of Betty begins. Sniff. I'm really going to miss writing the old girl._


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

"Open it," Henry ordered with great emotion in his voice after the box was retrieved and placed on the table after supper had concluded with the grand reveal of the chocolate cannoli cheesecake mousse torte which tasted better than it looked if that was even possible, earning the trio of Kaylin, Annabel and Quincy a standing ovation for their efforts before the latter couple said their goodbyes and took leave to pay their respects to her father, Bill Anderson, for the rest of the evening.

"You're sure, Pop?" Eddie asked as she second-guessed whether this surprise might be a little too much for him given the state of his heart that week. "We can wait if you'd rather."

"It's been sixty-two years on this day since he left us, another week isn't going to make a damn bit of difference. Open it," he reiterated while Erin stood with him, her arms around his shoulders as the whole family gathered, eager to learn what there was of an uncle they had never met before. "It's Father's Day, let me see my boy again."

"Do it," Frank agreed, and then took in a deep breath to steel himself for the sight of not only his older brother but also a side of his own mother he never knew existed until recently.

"Okay, you got it," Danny agreed as he deferred to Henry and Frank's wishes and took a box cutter to pare away the layers of heavy, but now dried-out tape that covered the seams before lifting the top lid off to reveal a carefully packed assortment of items from both a joyful and painful hidden part of their family's history. "Looks like we've got some pictures here," he announced as he pulled the padded frames out one by one and began to unwrap their treasures—the first and largest revealing a formal family portrait of Betty seated with what looked to be a year-old Peter on her lap and Henry proudly leaning over his family with that trademark smile from behind the chair.

"Grandpa! Look at how young and handsome you were!" Nicki exclaimed as she grabbed it and came over to him after cleaning the dusty glass with a dry dishcloth while admiring her patriarch looking debonair in a fine, dark suit. "Peter was adorable, and Grandma! Oh, my gosh, she was just so beautiful back then!"

"That she was, just like both of you are today, my loves," Henry agreed as his eyes welled at the memory-filled sight of his wife and first child.

"Stunning," Erin agreed as she took a turn studying the photo of Betty in a classically lined belted dress complete with a tasteful and very familiar triple-strand pearl necklace and bracelet set over gloves holding a little fair-haired boy with a strikingly similar and easily recognizable chin. "That's the jewelry set you both gave me when Nicki was born, and now we know where Joe, Jamie and now Joey came from," she announced as she looked up at her father and passed the frame to him. "Peter was the original."

"They're definitely carbon copies of him at that age," Frank nodded as he studied the familiar face of a brother he never knew but had been stamped on two of his boys and now a grandson as if they were his own.

"That must have been so hard for you and Grandma Betty, Pop," Linda agreed as she looked over her father-in-law's shoulder. "To see them when they born and know that such a strong resemblance was there, but never say so."

"It was something that was never brought up, but I know we both thought the same," Henry admitted. "I'm glad in a way that Danny and Erin were first, but when Betty saw Joe and then later Jamie, I think it gave her some peace to know that part of Peter was still with us and inside Francis all along."

"What do you think Uncle Peter would have been if he had grown up?" Sean asked innocently as his brother sat nearby with a still sullen look as he had all afternoon, anticipating the announcement at any moment now that what he perceived to be his mother's latest, greatest interest had been born. "A Police Commissioner like you and Grandpa?"

"Maybe," Henry laughed with a sideways look towards Danny. "Peter was a sweet kid, but he had a bit of the mischievous, bull-headed streak from my side of the family, so I don't know. That part of him was your father through and through."

"Sounds about right," Jamie teased impishly from his seat to the side where he was resting with his now tired leg propped up. "Joe and I got his good looks and Danny got the pig-headed gene."

"Watch it weisenheimer," Danny warned with a glance over, relieved to see that despite Jack's continued angst, his own younger brother was at least now relaxed enough to joke with them again. "Maybe it skips a generation," he added with a nod towards his son and new nephew.

"Wait, here's his baby album, I think," Eddie announced as she peered in the box and pulled out the string-tied leather-bound book with crisp, feminine handwriting denoting the dates and details of all Peter Christopher Reagan's early milestones… from rolling over at four months to his first time sitting up then crawling, to awkward steps just before his first and only birthday and all the baby-toothed smiles in between. "Look at all the things you'll be doing soon, munchie," she cooed with Joey in her arms as she sat down in the hammock next to Jamie and flipped through the pages with him, sadly noting that nothing was written past the seventeenth-month mark with many empty pages left blank beyond it. "I can't believe she was able to go on after this just stopped," she teared up as that visual confirmation of Peter's end hit her hard and she rocked their own little one tighter. "I would have wanted to die too."

"Don't ever say that again, Eddie," Jamie begged with a whisper in her ear as he grew serious and held them both tight with Kaylin curled up on his other side, especially in light over everything that had happened over the course of the last six months. "Please, I love you so much sweetheart, not ever, no matter what, okay? Promise me."

"It is a piece of you that does disappear when a child is lost," Eva commented from her chair where she had been respectfully keeping a distance while the Reagan's relived a part of their past together for the first time. "If it is big enough, sometimes I believe you can be tempted to go with it," she added from her own experience.

"She did, at first I think," Henry agreed honestly as he remembered those darkest days. "But after Francis came and the rest of our lives filled in around him and then later all of you… those feelings went away until… well, until after her heart attack when they came back," he admitted sadly. "She had enough fighting them then, and she wanted to be with him."

"Why?" Nicki asked since at only four she had been far too young to remember very much of her great-grandmother when she was stricken and the challenges she had faced during those last few months. "I mean we were all still here. Why didn't she want to live? I was her first great-grandchild and would have wanted to know her too… I didn't really get the chance."

"Jack was just a baby too at that time," Linda reminded with a pained look at her now nearly grown up, but in some ways still childishly resentful older son. "He doesn't have any memories of her at all. I missed having her help me with him while Danny was away in Iraq."

"Her heart was fragile afterward, honey," Erin explained to her daughter. "We didn't know it, but she had been having a silent attack all along for a few days before that. Like a lot of women, she didn't have the classic signs of chest or arm pain, just some nausea and a feeling like she was under the weather. By the time she collapsed, there was a lot of damage already to the muscle, especially on the one side that caused it not to beat right and the doctors diagnosed her with arrhythmias and advanced heart failure. Maybe today they would have even recommended a transplant. They weren't even sure she would make it through that first night."

"But she did," Frank recalled with his sadness and guilt evident over the situation that ensued, and he bit his lip hard at the next admission which had never been uttered out loud to his father before. "Pop sat with her the whole time in that plastic chair refusing to leave except when we literally dragged him out when they needed to do rounds. I was angry with him for that… I'm sorry, Dad, I know we had words and then never talked about it afterward, but at the time I thought you were just being stubborn and getting in the way of the doctors making her better. You were right though… she was ready to go then. The only reason she came back was to say her goodbyes first. I was the one that didn't want to listen to her, and I didn't understand that there was someone else she was waiting to see again. What happened after that was my fault…"

###

 _"H-henry..." came the sound he had been waiting for all night and fervently praying to hear again, but it was so weak and far away sounding, that at first, he thought he had imagined it. The dawn was just breaking over the horizon outside, and the room was still dark except for the glow of the various equipment. A slight accompanying squeeze on his hand confirmed it was real, and he quickly sat up from where he had been resting his head on the bed next to her shoulder._

 _"Betty," he cried with tears of joy now to see her eyes open even if just barely once more. "Oh, my sweetheart, Betty! Thank you, God! It's alright, I'm right here, and Francis is just outside with Mary and the kids. We're all here for you. You're gonna be fine now!"_

 _"Let me go..." she breathed out in a quiet, weak voice that belied her usual strength and vigor. "'Tis me time… Peter's come... to see me home… I've seen 'im, our handsome boy..."_

 _"What? No, no!… Oh, please no, Betty! You're wrong… that was just Joseph in here to visit before, remember? He told you all about his new girl, Angela, and how he thinks she might be the one for him. Please, I love you so much, sweetheart… don't say you want to leave!" Henry implored as he laid his head down on her chest as fear stabbed through him once more at the defeat evident in her feeble-sounding yet somehow at the same time determined tone. Had it not been for the fact that he was stroking her forehead and listening to her beloved heartbeat at that very instant he would have never expected she would have ever said such a thing._

 _"Now, Elizabeth Aoibhín Reagan, you listen to me! After all these years, I still need you here! So just rest and stay with us, we'll both be with Peter later; he'll still be waiting… it was a heart attack, darling, but the doctors said they can make you well again," he lied to a great extent even though it's what he wanted to believe. Through channels afforded to the former Police Commissioner and his son, an up-and-coming NYPD Chief, they had been referred to a prominent surgeon in the city who was conducting a trial with some type of new, cutting-edge balloon pump device being used to support the left side of a damaged heart until it had adequate time to heal. While it had shown great promise, there was hardly any such type of guarantee._

 _"No m-more…"_

 _"Please, sweetheart, I know you're scared and hurting, but Francis talked with them last night and had them agree to bring in another specialist. He'll be here this morning. Your son, the one you have here… he always knows what to say and who to call to get things done, doesn't he? There's a new procedure they're going to do in a few hours to put something in that'll help your heart pump until it can get stronger again… you'll feel better soon."_

 _"Henry… yer me forever love, kiss me now goodbye… 'till our time again…"_

 _"No, I'm not ready yet! I won't let you go! Please promise me you'll stay!" he begged even as she drifted away again just as fast as she'd come back leaving him wondering for just a second if her request had been real or just a figment of his own exhausted and broken heart. "We haven't had enough together yet, there's still so much for us to do!" he pleaded in desperation and prayed with all his might once more she was still listening. "I'm retired now just like you always wanted, and we can travel and see the world… Ireland and Italy… all those places you wanted to go, and there was never the time before when I was on the job, remember?... We have our two gg's to raise now, and you know Danny and Erin will need your help doing that! We'll go wherever you want as soon as you're well... Betty?"_

 _"Pop," Frank's rough, tired voice cut through the still air moments later as he stood in the doorway and braced himself for another argument after pacing the halls all night and garnering little sleep as he worried over his mother and fought to pull whatever strings necessary to find a way to save her. "You need to come out again... the nurse said it's time for the doctors to do their morning rounds, and then they have to prep her for surgery, so we have to let them in."_

 _"No, Francis… she was just awake! She spoke to me and doesn't want it done… she wants to leave and be with…" Henry stopped himself before turning back to his wife with a stubborn set on his face once more, torn between his wishes and hers but determined to stay and change her mind. "I won't go! She can't be alone now!"_

 _"Dad, c'mon. It's been decided; we talked about this last night!" Frank sighed and vented some anger at his father, though trying to remain mindful of his mother in the bed in front of him and the rest of the patients in the ward. "She's under heavy sedation… she won't wake up, and if she does, she won't know what she's saying. They need to do what they need to do, and then she's going straight to surgery before eight. Dr. Albrightson is already here… Mary and I spoke with him, and everything's settled. He says she's a good candidate for the pump, but it has to be done quickly. Now, let's go get you a cup of coffee and something to eat before you end up laying in a bed right next to her!"_

 _"She was awake, and she said she doesn't want this! I can't go against her, Francis! I don't care what you think!"_

 _"Obviously!" Frank bit back, his mounting frustrations and fears finally boiling over in an unfortunate manner due to the stress of the dire situation. "You never listen to anyone else anymore, do you? It's always gotta be your way!… Why do you suppose the mayor fired you? But this is for Mom, and I'm not gonna let you do that here! You heard what the doctor said! If she doesn't have this procedure done to buy some time, her heart isn't going to be strong enough to recover!" he choked before continuing even as Henry returned a shocked, guilty look at his son, knowing much of what he said was true. In recent years as the city's top cop, he had earned the reputation of being a hard ass set in his ways._

 _"She'll die if we wait any longer, Dad, and that'll be on you!"_

 _"F-rancis Xavier… Reagan, don't... ye dare… 'ver sass yer father… that way 'gain," an old Irish mother returned to the present to admonish a son who's normally larger-than-life, six-foot-four hardened persona managed to command thousands of tough, city cops with just a look, and yet her soft words were enough to bring him to his knees at her side._

 _"He knows... me wish… m'm tired now…"_

 _"Mom? No, please don't say that! I'm sorry!" Frank cried like a little boy again waiting for her to take his ear and put him in the kitchen corner. "You'll be fine, Momma, I promise!" he added as he kissed her face. "I love you! You can't leave us yet! Please let the doctors make you well, and Mary and the kids… we'll all take care of Dad, the house and everything else for you! You don't have to worry about any of that!"_

 _"Francis, yer a good boy and you'll always feel yer mother's love, now don't fuss so… bring her and me grandbabies," she ordered instead. "I need… to tell them I l-love m'm all before... I go..." she added before her eyes closed once more and warning alarms began to sound as several nurses, and the aforementioned doctor rushed in._

 _"Commissioners Reagan," he addressed both Henry and Frank at once as time appeared to be of the essence after ordering her medication to be adjusted. "Betty's stats are dropping. If she's to survive surgery, we must take her now," he indicated._

 _"Dad, please," Frank begged as he prayed over his mother and gripped her hand, unwilling to let her go. "Please let them do this. She hasn't had enough time, and we still need her. She can beat this... she can! She's one of the strongest women I know!"_

 _"Francis…" Henry hesitated as an entire lifetime with his beloved wife flashed before him, from their first date at that dance to the last day with a little boy on a swing, to the proud look on her face as they welcomed their second son, and all the births and losses, joys and sorrows since. Together they had faced them all with more than just love, but with a deep trust in one another and here he was being asked to forsake that._

 _"Commissioner…"_

 _"Take her," Henry finally crumbled as he collapsed in the chair and wept while his dearest wife was swept away from him, unable to find the courage to say the words that would have let her leave to be with another who no one else even knew existed._

* * *

 _Ah, so that's how that surgery came to be. Unfortunately, we already know things will not work out the way Frank, Henry and the rest of the family are hoping and praying for. Next, come the final tear-jerker scenes between our oldest lovebirds as Joe steps up and plays an important role in Betty's last day. Just two chapters left!_


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

"Pop, you can't blame yourself for trying," Linda comforted the older man as she recalled that day. "We were all for her having that surgery, and we pressured you into it… no one wanted to lose her. Every one of us would have made the same decision for someone we loved," she assured with a sad smile for her husband even as they waited impatiently for news which had not been forthcoming and was sure to change their lives.

"She's right," Danny agreed. "We all have regrets… I had to get on a plane to go overseas without knowing what was happening, but if I had been there, I would have fought you too…"

"So, wait? It didn't work?" Nicki puzzled. "But I thought Grandma died at home from another heart attack?"

"She did… eventually, less than two months later," Frank admitted as he picked out another photo from the box on the table—this one showing Betty and Peter at a distance as they walked along the water hand-in-hand through the sand on a vacation to the shore likely just weeks before the little boy would have taken ill and passed given the timeframe.

"Our last trip together with him," Henry confirmed softly with a glance over. "May in Montauk… we took a weekend."

"Anyway, the operation itself was deemed a success if you could call it that," Frank continued to explain as he stared at one of the happy moments his mother had shared with another whose life was cut short and had missed out on so much more in the many years ahead with her. "She came out of it, and Pop sat with her in that hospital for another three weeks while the pump worked, and her heart started to get stronger, but only to a point since the attack itself caused a lot of scar tissue, and eventually they had to take it out. He only left her side to go home and cook her meals."

"Eh, that hospital food was bad enough to make anyone stay there indefinitely." Henry gruffed. "Not good enough for my girl."

"At that time, I did not understand," Frank admitted ruefully. "Any of it… what she wanted you to do, and why you were willing to even though I knew you didn't want to let her go… until Mary got sick and I did everything she asked. I couldn't go against her, and I guess that holds true for why you kept Mom's other confidence for so long too."

"A family is held together by its secrets; she always said," Henry agreed. "And love. Never question the love she had for you, Francis… for all of you."

"Grandma was never the same afterward though," Jamie observed. "Even when she came home, she always looked sad."

"Because she was still so weak I had to do everything for her… help her to the bathroom, bathe her… she stayed in a bed down here in the dining room almost all the time just like you did when you were hurt," Henry recalled with regret. "Only by then, we both knew she wasn't going to get any better. It wasn't the life she was used to… always being in charge, or how she wanted to be remembered. We had one last Thanksgiving here with the whole family including Angela, and then soon after she was gone for good, and she didn't give me a choice that time… kissed me goodnight and passed in her sleep next to me on December 2nd..."

###

 _"Do you need anything else tonight before we go to sleep, sweetheart?" Henry asked as he finished puttering around the downstairs cleaning up for the evening and was ready to turn in himself. Betty was lying on the left side of their bed as she had for nearly every night of the forty-six years they shared together, most of those in this very house, however for the past few weeks since she had been released from the hospital their bedroom had been relocated downstairs to the dining room with her beloved oak table put up in the corner and family dinners, with the exception of the most recent Thanksgiving gathering, were now held without her help at Frank and Mary's house on Harbor View Terrace instead._

 _"No, me love," she replied with a weak smile as she reached for his hand while he sat by her side in his pajamas. "Now don't fuss so, come and be still. You'll be wearing yerself down to the bone soon and need rest too. You promised you'd speak to Francis about havin' a nurse come instead."_

 _"I don't need a stranger's help to take care of you!" Henry insisted even as he gratefully crawled under the covers next to her, although it was clear to his aching back and everyone else in the family that he did since Betty's weakened heart had left her a near invalid requiring his constant assistance as she could no longer perform the most basic tasks herself. Still, he was the one who had put her in this position, and by God, he was going to be the one to see her through it… for better or for worse. "We have people in and out of here all the time anyway, it's like Grand Central some days," he gruffed as he put his foot down on the subject once more. "Don't need to add to it."_

 _"Henry, 'tis no point in fighting... 'tis not going to be better we both know, and puttin' off what needs to be will only make it worse," she sighed at his stubborn resolve. "I know ye know that… yer not foolin' me by acting as if it is not. I'm comin' to the end of me days, Henry Reagan, and still, I've always had the knack of reading you like a book."_

 _"Well, you don't know everything about me, Elizabeth Aoibhín Reagan," he insisted as he kissed her cheek to brush that notion away._

 _"I do indeed," she rebutted. "I know that you've been me forever love since the time we were Joseph's age, and you still look at me the way he sees his Angela now… he's been seeking our blessing; she's his match."_

 _"Of course, I do… you're still the most beautiful woman in the world to me."_

 _"But that hasn't stopped yer eye from wandering a time or two, has it?"_

 _"Betty!" Henry gasped at the accusation and this turn in the conversation. "I never! My heart has always stayed true to you!"_

 _"Now, yes ye 'ave," she chided with a wry smile on the corner of her lips as there was a definite purpose to this line of thought. "A certain redhead that ye rode with for a while comes to mind though. You were always a bit of a flirt with her, and there was talk. I know she felt the same."_

 _"Colleen and me? Betty, I swear nothing ever happened between us! I even had the boss reassign her! That's how she and Vic McGuire got partnered! They've been married with two kids for 30 years now. He always said it was the happiest day of his life!"_

 _"And that's how you and I stayed together for 46 years," his wife acknowledged with a small, amused chuff at his instant defense, which had just proven she was not off the mark. "I know you've always been true to yer vows, but soon we will be apart me dear… be it for a day or twenty more seasons. You were right all that time ago to bring me here when me soul t'was missing after Peter left us… t'was the house for us and the life we made after was good… t'was not wrong to move on from him while he waited, so know I'll always be here with you in yer heart and stay close no matter where you go, but I want more for me husband than sadness and crying over a headstone when I'm gone… I want you to remember me with joy and happiness instead because that's what you brought to me for all our years together. Maybe someday you can feel that again with another in a place like this," she consoled with a sad half-smile as the tears came to both their eyes and they clung together, both aware that time was indeed growing short for them. "Now kiss me goodnight again me love, Henry Reagan, this time like ye mean it... and what will come will be."_

 _###_

"POP! Oh, my God, I can't believe you had eyes for your partner!" Eddie gasped much to the chagrin of everyone else around until she realized what she had just accused him of. "Well, hmm… I mean, um, I could see how maybe it might happen," she backtracked and grinned at Jamie with her eyes shining. "All that time in the car together…"

"And extensive meal breaks," he finished with a laugh.

"So, she knew about Colleen?" Frank asked. "I was only eleven or twelve when you two were partners before you went back to Mick, and I certainly wasn't going to bring it up in front of Mom."

"Yeah, so?" Henry grumbled with a hint of embarrassment showing now in the pinkish tinge in his cheeks. "What was there to bring up?"

"Oh, come on."

"Come on, what, Dad?" Erin prodded with a prosecutor's aim as she couldn't believe her ears that there had ever been so much as a hint of impropriety in her grandparents' long, seemingly iron-clad marriage.

"That I had the biggest crush on her," Frank downplayed to his daughter with a massive grin to save his poor father's honor as he looked around the table. "She was a babe," he nodded.

"Yes, she, uh... she did have her admirers," Henry stuttered as he nervously looked down and cleared his throat.

"I'll bet," Erin frowned with no intention of leaving him off the hook.

"Well, we never really talked about it," the Reagan patriarch admitted as he grew serious. "Until that night… the last night. She was thinking of me and just wanted to make sure I'd know it was okay to move on without her, not that anyone could... _or ever has…_ held a candle to my Betty," he emphasized to his granddaughter to reassure her.

"That was just before my birthday," Frank inserted as the smile drained from his face, and he remembered hearing the news from his middle son to tell him his mother was gone. "Joe called that next morning and told us to come… he and Renzulli were at the end of a third shift in the area when he got a feeling and drove here to check..."

###

 _"Reagan, what's w'it you today?" Officer Anthony Renzulli griped with a worried frown as he glanced over at his young trainee in the passenger seat of the RMP while they pulled away from the 1-9 precinct in Bay Ridge, having been assigned an early morning prisoner drop before they were due to clock off their overnight third shift. "You've been distracted all night, and that's not like you. You lovesick or somethin'? In case you forgot, I'm supposed to be training you, and that means I shouldn't have to do all the talkin' and drivin' while you stare out the window and moon over some girl."_

 _"What?" Joe startled as he was snapped out of his funk while he watched the familiar streets close to his childhood home flash by. "No… ah, I was just thinking," he admitted as a sense of dread had been gnawing at his heart all night long, although he had attributed it to the fact that his older brother was now stationed thousands of miles away in some godforsaken place waiting to engage an enemy bent on destroying everything about their country he was now also sworn to protect. "Got a letter from Danny yesterday," he explained._

 _"Him? That numbskull can actually write?" Renzulli retorted with a little grin as he never passed up an opportunity to take a dig at his new partner's eldest sibling._

 _"Yeah," Joe laughed, knowing his gruff TO had never been a member of the Danny Reagan personal fan club when he had likewise been stationed at the 12th during his first few years on the job prior to taking a leave to go active in the Marines in the post 9/11 political landscape._

 _"He just wanted to make sure I was looking out for everybody here at home… that's always sort of been his job," he explained. "He left things rough with Jamie, and he's worried about how the kid's taking it, especially with Grandma Betty being sick."_

 _"Right, I know things have been pretty tough for the family lately. How is mister Harvard-bound?" Renzulli asked as he recalled the little boy that had tumbled head-first down the steps and had once been the subject of one of his own memorable rookie calls when he had been tasked with staying with the Commissioner's upset wife while Henry had whisked an injured Jamie off to the hospital. "Still got his nose in a book? Haven't seen him around the precinct lately… always had an excuse before to stop in and visit with you two."_

 _"And you won't anymore, that's for sure," Joe confirmed. "Mom's keeping him on a tight leash away from there now for the next year or so until he signs an acceptance letter with a direct line to law school like Erin… she's afraid he'll flip and enter the academy like we did instead."_

 _"Probably best if he don't," Renzulli agreed. "Those smart-types never make good cops… too much in their head. I know I wouldn't want to be partnered with one," he smiled and rolled that ironic soft insult right over in an effort to lighten his young sidekick's mood._

 _"Yeah… whatever," Joe smirked before turning serious once more. "It's just tough."_

 _"What? Tryin' to take on the big brother role while he's gone?"_

 _"I guess that's it," Joe admitted sadly. "I mean I'm not doing it very well either… maybe it's harder than I thought. Danny always knew when something was wrong before it even happened, and I hate watching him and Jamie get further apart now that he's away, but nothing I say to either of them seems to make a difference… the family's just not what it was before. On top of that my father and Grandpa are at odds over what's best for Grandma. Mom's helping all she can, but Linda's stuck alone with a baby and no husband here, so she needs her too. Dad wants to hire a day nurse to come in and help take care of things, and Gramps won't hear him even though at his age doing all that himself is wearing him down. Sometimes I get scared the same thing's gonna happen to him too… that his heart's just gonna give out and we'll find him on the ground next to her bed. Like today, I feel weird; something's wrong… and for some reason I just can't shake it, you know?"_

 _"Yeah, I do," Renzulli agreed with a glance at his watch, noting that they were technically at the end of shift as he considered his own aging parents and what he would do in that situation before deciding to swing the car left at the next intersection to give the worried kid some peace of mind. "It's called instinct, and every good cop's gotta have it," he informed his surprised rookie as he pulled up in front of the familiar house at 801 Driftwood. "Go on, we were passing through here anyway, and I'm betting your Grandpa's an early riser. Go check on them, and if anyone asks we were in the neighborhood and got a request from the former Commissioner himself."_

 _"Thanks, boss, I owe you," Joe acknowledged gratefully before getting out of the car and bounding up the steps, knocking lightly on the front door just before eight o'clock… his brow furrowing when there was no answer even though he knew Henry was traditionally awake and reading his paper at the table by six each morning without fail… the same paper that was laying on the ground at his feet at that very moment._

 _"Gramps! It's me, Joey! C'mon!" he tried again more urgently, not wanting to ring the doorbell in case his grandmother was resting, but suddenly sure something was indeed wrong as worry starting to grip him before he pulled out a spare key from behind a loose brick and entered the front door. A quick visual sweep of the living room and kitchen revealing no sign of either of his grandparents, so he headed directly to the dining room which was currently serving as the couple's downstairs bedroom during her convalescence. "Gramps!" he hissed in a whisper as soon as he rounded the corner and spotted his paternal elder sitting quietly on the bedside chair with his daytime clothes on, facing his sleeping wife who was likewise already dressed, wrapped in her warm morning housecoat and tucked under a few neatly arranged blankets while comfortably propped up on several pillows with her hair already fixed as if she was ready and expecting visitors. "I'm sorry, didn't want to yell too loud and wake Grandma. Renzulli and I were just coming back from the 1-9, and I thought I would check to see if you need anything," he explained his unexpected appearance. "Why didn't you answer me?"_

 _"Joseph?" Henry replied in a confused, broken voice as he looked up blankly and finally noticed his grandson when his concentration was broken. "What are you doing here?"_

 _"Gramps, I just explained all that," Joe puzzled as he glanced back and forth between them, his heart skipping as his gaze finally settled on Betty and her peaceful, quiet demeanor… a look he had not seen since before her first attack. "Oh, no... Pop, not Grandma, please…"_

 _"She's gone," came the confirmation he feared most. "I woke up, and she was still warm, but he came back, and she's gone with him this time and left us for good."_

 _"Oh, Gramps," Joe cried as his emotions welled up and he kneeled down to embrace his grandfather while trying to understand what he was talking about. "I'm so sorry I didn't call or come earlier... I knew something was wrong the whole night, I just knew it!"_

 _"She's all ready," Henry continued in his still-dazed and overwhelmed state—after a lifetime of responding to scenes just like this over the many years on patrol and as a detective through the highest level as a Commissioner, he appeared to have no idea what else to do at this point other than take some private moments lovingly to dress and fuss over her one last time._

 _"You know she would have wanted to be ready before anyone came… I had to make sure."_

 _"I know, Pops," Joe tried again to unsuccessfully to rein in his emotions like a good cop should before abjectly failing as tears started to fall while he was struggling to remember what needed to be done. Renzulli was sitting outside waiting in the RMP, surely he would help, or his parents… of course, his parents needed to know. "You did a good job; she looks really nice. Are you okay?" he managed to choke out as his concern grew over the apparent level of shock that was setting in and he quickly grabbed a fleece throw from the foot of the bed to wrap around Henry's shoulders as his grandfather began to shake uncontrollably now that he had accomplished that one goal and there was nothing else left to focus on but the fact his beloved Betty had really gone._

 _"I… I don't know what to do now, Joey."_

 _"It's alright; I'm gonna help. You just stay here, and I'll go call Mom and Dad, okay?"_

 _"Okay," came the blank, amicable, lost-puppy sounding reply before Joe managed to stumble out into the kitchen and heave a few dangerous, deep breaths over the sink while he leaned on the counter and the room spun before pulling his cell phone from his pocket, thankful in that day and age for speed dial because everything else was blurring in his mind and in front of his eyes at the moment and he couldn't remember the number to call the house. He clicked on Mary's cell by feel instead._

 _"Frank!" she was yelling up the steps that very moment just a few blocks away as her phone began to ring in the kitchen. "That nurse you wanted to interview will be here at eight-thirty, that's probably her confirming, and you promised to run Jamie over to the school first so he didn't have to take his science project on the bus and ruin it! Get a move on it, both of you!" she ordered taking full advantage of the fact that her husband had scheduled the morning off to attend to this family business as her youngest son bounded down the steps with a smug look on his face. "No more C's in that class for you, young man," she chastised with a frown as Jamie passed her, referencing an unfortunate grade on a test he had forgotten to study for just days after Betty's first attack._

 _"Yes, Ma," he assured on his way to the kitchen to grab a quick breakfast knowing that all had been forgiven due to the circumstances last time. "It's Joe," he informed with a glance at the ID on her phone laying on the table as he walked by._

 _"Hi, honey," she answered cheerfully with a look at the clock inherently knowing he was supposed to be off shift by then, so her guard was down, and it was more of a shock than anything to hear the pain evident in his voice._

 _"Mom…" that one word and the tone it was offered in was enough for her to know something terrible had happened._

 _"Are you alright?" she demanded instantly on high alert, fearing the worst from his job at first when there was no answer forthcoming, just the sound of a choking sob, and Jamie likewise turned around as all the color drained out of his face when he heard her reaction. "Get your father, NOW!" she ordered her youngest as he darted off to do her bidding after a frightened pause. "Honey, where are you?" she turned her attention back to the phone._

 _"At Grandpa and Grandma's," Joe managed to sputter, and Mary abruptly sagged against the counter, intuitively sensing what was next… one or both she braced herself for knowing the bond Henry and Betty shared and fearing that it could not be broken… that one would not leave this world without the other. "We were at the 1-9, so I stopped to check them, Mom, and… he… he said she'd passed this morning in her sleep. I'm scared… he's shaking really bad and can hardly talk. I… I think I need to call a bus. You and Dad have to come."_

 _"Oh, no… oh, it's Mom!" she cried and then looked up to see her husband's ashen face standing in the doorway as the news hit him like a heavy blow. "She's already gone in her sleep, Frank… Joey's over there now… he says Pop's bad too."_

 _"She's gone? He's sure?" Frank repeated in disbelief as he leaned against the frame for support while his world turned upside down and Jamie was rendered speechless staring at them both… a huge gaping hole was now opening up in each of their hearts that a larger-than-life indomitable Irish woman once filled. "And Dad?"_

 _"In shock the way it sounds," Mary replied as her heart was thudding hard against her chest with grief as she hurried over to usher them both towards the back door in an effort to get her family quickly gathered over there together in one place. "We're on our way right now, Joey. Radio for the EMT's, okay? They'll come faster for you."_

 _"Yeah, Renzulli just did that," Joe confirmed as his partner had worried over his extended absence and overheard what was going on from the open doorway, one look in at his former top boss confirming the possible need for medical intervention before a bad situation got worse. "They're coming in no sirens so they don't upset him more."_

 _"Alright, that's good… just stay with him. Dad's still here at home; we'll be there in two minutes," she assured and prayed for the strength to see her family through it as she closed the door behind them._

* * *

 _Sniff. Godspeed and farewell Elizabeth "Betty" Aoibhín Reagan. May the road rise to meet you, may the wind be always at your back, may the sun shine warm upon your face, the rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of His hand. To nitpick, the date on her headstone on the show is December 2, 2001, but that didn't quite fit with the timeline I established through the other pieces before I actually noticed that point, particularly with Danny's departure in the Marines, so I gave the old girl another fanfic year with the family here in werks-world instead._

 _Also a big round of applause and many thanks to lawslave, jlmayer, Laura Louisa Lewis and BlueBlood82 for their suggestions and contributions to this piece which certainly helped make it what it is, and hopefully you've enjoyed reading it._

 _Next, the final chapter wraps everything up for this bridge installment as the Reagans finally receive the other news they have been waiting for, with just a bit of twist of course. Prepare yourself for a most memorable Danny Reagan rant ahead, lol._


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

"And that was it?" Eddie was in tears herself now at the end of the tale of Henry and Betty despite her now knowing that a certain grandmother would have frowned upon that, especially on this day when they were waiting to welcome someone else. "She passed away in this house, in _our_ house?" she directed towards Jamie who affirmed that with a nod even as she leaned over to hug Henry. "Oh, Pop… that must have been so hard for you!"

"It was, and I guess I gave everyone else a scare on top of that," he admitted, having barely avoided being taken into the hospital himself that day and triggering an additional wave of anxiety that had spread through the family. "But this is where she lived most of her life sweetheart, and this is where she wanted to leave it, so she could stay close for the next ones to follow," he assured as he gave Kaylin a squeeze with his arms wrapped around her as she had fallen asleep for a little power nap while sitting in his lap during a busy day. "The night before she left when we talked, she reminded me with those words that she wanted to be remembered with joy and happiness in our hearts instead of sadness and crying over a headstone. So, I'm glad in the end it was here next to me and not in some hospital like Peter and Mary or alone like others," he added also referencing Joe and Rigs without saying their names aloud. "And I'm glad that you and Jamie have this house and these little ones to raise here… I'm sure that has her smiling down on them every day. To my Betty," he toasted to the walls of his old home as he raised his glass. "I have known many, liked not a few, loved only one, I drink to you."

"Here, here," came the reply from around the room.

"I was grateful we all got to come visit one last time before they took her because she still seemed so close… still does here, really, you're right, Pop," Erin added as she looked around, immediately picking up on so many of Betty's personal touches that remained while remembering being called to the family's side that morning. "Her doctor came and declared her and did whatever he had to, then we all had as much time as we needed to sit with her in private and say our goodbyes… all except Danny," she admitted with a sad look towards her older brother who had been thousands of miles away at that time. "I'm sorry you missed that."

"She was with me too," he revealed. "I dreamt about her that night even before the CO gave me word that Linda called. Somehow… just like Joe, I knew that she was gone, too."

"I didn't," Jamie stated as he rocked on the hammock with a sleeping and content Joey lying face down with a cheek resting on his chest. "I guess I never got that sense of intuition the rest of you have when it comes to that… not for anyone. I just never expect that something's actually gonna happen even if I know about it beforehand. Like today with Rigs… it still doesn't seem real," he confessed.

"Everyone processes things in their own way," Frank agreed. "That day, I was thankful Mary was able to keep it together. She managed to calm Pop and me down while consoling everyone else and was able to do what needed to be done for the next week without breaking apart herself. I don't know how she did it considering how close she and Mom were."

"They were battle-tested together and leaned on each other over the years," Henry smiled as he remembered the relationship the pair had eventually developed. "A true mother and daughter bond like no other."

"I wish I could feel that someday," Linda admitted softly. "If this baby is a boy, then maybe I'll have to wait until Jack and Sean settle down with someone. My mother and I aren't close. Betty had Mary, and she had you, Erin. Now you have Nicki, and Eva has Eddie and now Kaylin. I have…"

"A little girl of your own," Danny announced with a huge smile as the other message they had all been waiting for flashed across his screen at that very moment in what seemed like an answer from above. "That was Marcus! He said he just got a call from the lawyer, and it's a girl!" he exclaimed as he jumped up to his feet to embrace his wife. "Healthy and six pounds, three ounces… that's all he knows!" he added as even that small bit of information was cause for celebration and an immediate shift in mood. "He's on his way over now to go sign the papers! We might be able to see her as early as tomorrow morning!"

"A girl!" the entire family save for one still-stubborn teenaged holdout rejoiced together for the next several hours as they moved inside and toasted her arrival late into the evening while all the sad and happy memories of those in the past were fortified with hope for the next generation.

"Here she is!" Linda gushed as she eagerly studied a clandestine photo of a smooshed-faced crying infant with wispy dark hair and a more olive complexion than her Irish counterparts when it arrived from an undisclosed source.

"Aw, she's beautiful!" Eddie declared as if there was any other possibility while she hugged her sister-in-law. "So delicate looking! Another princess! No boy clothes for her! I see a shopping trip in our future!"

"Terrific, there go the paid-off credit cards," Danny griped good-naturedly as he melted like a marshmallow just like his newest sister-in-law had predicted he would and smiled at his wife's happiness while dutifully studying the baby's face. "Must take after the mom, at least she's no Marcus," he declared with relief, still harboring a bucket of frustration over the way the whole situation had played out with the younger man in recent days.

"Wait, there's more. She just sent me a photo of the birth certificate paperwork he filled out and signed," Linda reported with excitement evident on her face until it fell after she swiped to make the document larger so she could read it. "You'll never guess..." she trailed off and swallowed hard at what she knew her husband's reaction was going to be to this little gem.

"Well, don't keep us all in suspense! What's her name?" Erin demanded.

"It's... oh my God. Danny, it's Kitty… um… Kitty Elise Beale."

"Kitty Elise? WHAT THE HELL KIND OF NAME IS THAT? Wait, you're not serious, are you?! You mean KATHERINE," Danny insisted as he looked at his wife's shocked face for some kind of hint that she was kidding, and this was all a colossal joke considering his well-known mutually held hatred for one feline in particular who was at that moment regarding his agitated state with suspicious green, iridescent eyes from a favored perch on top of the refrigerator across the room. "He was supposed to use his grandmother's name! Katherine, right?" he railed when Linda shook her head no in disbelief. "He wrote down KITTY as her first name instead?! Kitty was his Gram's nickname for God's-sake! WHAT A DAMN IDIOT!"

"Baby girl name is Kitty? Like Bear be a kitty cat?" Kaylin clapped in delight as she had remained awake for the festivities after a good nap, and her aforementioned four-footed friend bounded over obediently on cue with a deep, rumbling purr for his favorite, now-excited and therefore more likely to be tuna-producing small human. "Me like kitties, Uncle D!" she exclaimed as she hugged him, suddenly in favor of this turn of events and reconsidering her view on boy babies being superior.

"NO! NO WAY! NUH-UH! I'm not raising this kid and calling her KITTY!" Danny continued to rant as he pulled out his phone, determined to give his insolent pseudo-nephew an earful over this lifelong curse he had just branded his newborn daughter with as that name brought forward instant visions of numerous strippers he had busted over the years. "We'll get that changed! They can change names, right? We'll just tell them it was a big mistake! It can't be official; they probably didn't even file the paperwork yet! Tell your friend to grab the folder and accidentally shred it!"

"Elise is pretty… I guess maybe that's after the mom, right? Isn't her name Lise? Maybe she shortened it," Eddie tried to placate as she did a quick name check on her phone. "No, no, LOOK!… It's perfect!" she exclaimed excitedly as she waved the device at them. "It says Elise is a variant of the Hebrew name Elizabeth meaning 'God's promise'! Aw, c'mon! It's gotta be a sign from Grandma Betty, I know it!" she declared happily.

"If Grandma Betty wanted to give someone a sign, she would have come back from beyond, grabbed Marcus by the ear and put him down on his knees BEFORE he wrote K-I-T-T-Y on those papers!" Danny spelled out with emphasis before continuing his rant. "BECAUSE HE'S LOST IS HIS FLIPPIN' MIND! THIS IS NOT HAPPENING! HE'S CHANGING THE DAMN NAME!"

"DANNY WAIT! You might not have a choice, especially if you go at it like this!" Jamie warned as his legal training kicked in and he tried to head his brother off at the pass with a reasonable argument. "Given that you and Linda are technically just guardians, and he maintained his parental rights... the fact is since his name is on the birth certificate the only way to have it amended in New York State before she turns 18 is at his request. Think that's gonna happen if you go off half-cocked right now and insult him or his Gram? C'mon, be smart about this! Let me talk to him! I'll straighten it out!"

"Too late," Erin observed as she knew that look and there was no stopping her brother's tirade now as the younger man on the other side of the line picked up.

"MARCUS!" Danny blasted ahead, anyway. "The hell were you thinking? KITTY? You stupid, son of a... DUCKIE!"

###

"Wow, so quite a day… or week, really," Eddie observed quietly as she tucked Joey into his bassinet when she was done feeding him late that night and her husband finally crawled into bed next to her after cleaning up the entire downstairs, thoroughly anticipating the need for another midnight chitchat and preemptively bringing with him a small bowl with the last remaining scoop of her favorite Avery's Down East New England-style Chocolate Double Fudge Brownie Blizzard ice cream. For the first time in months, the house was empty now but for them and a little girl with her cat asleep in her own room since Henry was once again at home with Frank and in a surprising move, Eva had gone out late in the evening with friends from work when a last-minute call from a recent acquaintance about an available ticket to a show proved tempting. More than a few Reagan eyebrows had raised when she had advised them she might stay that night in the city instead of coming back after midnight alone.

"You okay?" Eddie worried as she gratefully accepted the treat, knowing that the other events of the afternoon and evening had overshadowed and pressed the reality of Rigs' passing to the side for everyone else. "Your family was all excited there at the end about baby Kitty Elise… ugh, and I'm still having problems with that first part so hopefully someone can knock some sense into Marcus without Danny actually laying hands on him," she admitted as she shook her head and spooned a mouthful of the creamy confection in while she pondered the fact that for the moment it appeared like the young father was digging in his heels on the issue and insisting that was to be the little girl's name going forward. "But I know the rest of it was hard today," she added while taking another bite. "It was so good to see you and Quincy bring the Chevelle home though. That was such huge step for you after everything that happened, especially because of Joe and what it meant to him."

"Yeah, I'm alright now, or at least I'm gonna be," Jamie assured as he scooted over close to her and wrapped his arms around his wife to hold her tight while she finished. "Maybe the kids will work on it with me someday. Things are getting better, Ed," he admitted honestly. "I'm feeling more like myself. My leg's almost healed, and I'm gonna try to put some of this behind me now. I know the next week or two will probably be tough until Quincy can get the funeral scheduled and that might stir some things up, especially at night, but it'll be over soon, and I've got you right here with me… for what? At least another fifty or sixty years or so until we're both old and grayhairs too," he prayed with a smile as he settled in next to her. "Think of all the stories Kaylin and Joey will have about us someday."

"Good ones, I hope… and not so many sad," Eddie wished as she put the bowl and spoon down off to the side and melted into his touch instead. "Here is the right place for us, just like it was for your grandparents. I'm glad we didn't end up moving to Washington so that our kids get a chance to grow up in this house and be around family, but I wish Pop would have had more time with Betty though. It would have been nice to know her and your Mom, and he's been alone now for so long… so has your Dad. Do you think either of them will ever find someone else? I mean even my Mom is stepping out on a date and for drinks after the show tonight with the broker that sold her the apartment, and I never thought she would be with anyone else besides my Dad, you know? I couldn't believe she said yes when Myra and her husband called and said this David Ramsey guy suddenly came up with another ticket at the last minute."

"Yeah, that smelled like a total setup, but it's good she went, right? She's settling back into her life down here now after moving from Rochester."

"I think she just wants to show Dad that she doesn't need him at all anymore when he gets out," Eddie reasoned with a sigh at the looming Janko power struggle.

"Maybe," Jamie agreed. "And that's probably weird for you… I know my sister gets freaked out whenever Dad or Pop have gone out with someone else, but Eva has a right to move on if that's what she wants. They've both seen a few people here and there over the years if you could call it dating," he revealed as he thought back to any number of Kelly's his father seemed to have been attracted to since his mother's passing. "But I don't think they'd ever find someone else that fit them as well as my Mom and Grandma did. I know I could never do any better than you, lambchop," he admitted as he nuzzled her neck, trailing an increasingly passionate line of softness up behind her ear, stopping himself before things got any more heated as the countdown for another two weeks of postpartum-induced celibacy dragged on. "I don't ever want to worry about that though, so promise you'll kiss me goodnight and let me go first in my sleep right here in this bed when I'm about... oh… say 95 or so."

"Deal," she agreed. "As long as you hold the door open for me up there because I'll be right behind you."

"Sounds like a plan," Jamie laughed softly. "I love you, Edit Katalin, and I love every part of our life, even the bumps, bruises and sad times. As long as we're together, there will always be more good than bad."

"And I love you and Kaylin and munchie more, Jamison Henry Reagan… So, goodnight, but please promise me you'll still be here in the morning," she whispered with a final lingering kiss before turning out the light as they held each other close until the next day and the next adventure could begin again.

* * *

 _Well, there you have it, the story of Henry and Betty through the years intertwined with Frank and Mary plus some of the other issues the Reagan family is currently facing as they move on into Series III. Baby Kitty Elise (I know, poor Danny, we'll have to see what happens to the name, but I do love to give him a hard time!) will become a focal point for him and Linda going forward as they navigate through the different legal issues and complications her presence in their lives will bring since their battles with Marcus are not quite over. I was also glad to include Joe for a bit of a role there at the end as I've always wanted to write for him as an adult, but never quite had the opportunity to do so before. I'd like someday maybe to do something similar that will cover his perspective through the Blue Templar, and also have plans to tell the story of Mary's passing and how that impacted the family and Joe and Jamie in particular through a piece called "A Beautiful Lie" set twenty years in the future so we can see where the Reagans may have ended up. So, more stories like this I hope if I can keep my muse going!_

 _First though will be the delayed epilogue to "Resurgence" which will post soon (needs to be finished) so we can pay our final respects to Commander Joel Rigsby and give both Jamie and Danny a chance to heal that lingering rift between them as they admit to a new understanding for one another. After that is one last, short, fun piece called "Where There's a Will..." which will introduce a new, minor OC as our lovebirds finally get the opportunity to reconnect in that physical way they've both been dreaming of for so long now, although it won't be as easy as that, "Will" it? Ha!_

 _Finally, "werk" on the first installment for Series III has begun, tentatively titled "This Meeting Never Happened," which will see Jamie challenged by both his father and brother as he settles into his new role as the liaison between the NYPD and FBI while an old political powderkeg of a case sparks anew amid the upcoming mayoral election and threatens to come between them on the job. Meantime, Eva and Armin Janko's unresolved feelings for one another will be tested once he is released from prison, and the events that follow will shake their daughter's faith in her father to the core again as Eddie faces some pretty big issues both professionally and personally herself._

 _That's it for this one. I've really enjoyed writing it! Thanks for all the reviews, favs and follows, I really appreciate them!_


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